


What If...

by wolfdragon64



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Story Series | Digimon World Series
Genre: Alternate Universe, Digimon Cyber Sleuth - Freeform, he didn't want to leave them all behind, he has too many digimon to tag, takumi really loves his digimon, the digital world, what if the main had stayed in the digital world
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-28 00:31:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14437557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfdragon64/pseuds/wolfdragon64
Summary: Takumi has managed to stop the Eaters with the help of his friends but the strain of making the connection jump to stop Surdou had been too much for his body. Now he’s got the choice, return to the human world or stay in the Digital World with his mentor, Alphamon and the Digimon he had raised since the beginning of his journey to find the truth.





	1. The beginning

It was his choice, that’s what Alphamon had said. He could stat in the Digital World whit her and the Royal Knights, what was left of them anyways, and help them restore their world now that the Eaters were gone. Or he could go back to the human world, be with his friends again, his mom but there was the fact that his Digimon wouldn’t be with him anymore. That and the entire time he had been an in-training detective it had been Alphamon helping him, guiding him towards the truth. Kyoko may wake up back at home but Alphamon was his mentor.

“Did you really mean it when you said I could stay?” he asked, looking up at the knight Digimon and he could see the surprise in her eyes. He could feel the surprise from his Digimon, Omnimon looking at the orb of light that was his Tamer’s conscious.

“I did. You wouldn’t be able to go home for quite some time. It could be years before a path opens up again,” the knight warned and she watched the orb go silent before brightening again.

“I want to help. I want to keep learning alongside you and the other Royal Knights, helping Digimon like I did back at the agency.” Alphamon was quiet and he started to get a bit nervous before she gave a nod.

“It seems you’ve already made up your mind on the matter,” she said, fondness in her tone. Her assistant never ceased to surprise her and she reached out, taking his conscious into her hand. “Sleep Takumi, you’ll wake again soon enough.”

~

Alphamon watched as Takumi slept, glad that putting his body together had gone well. She remembered finding him as that blue mass of data all that time ago. She hadn’t thought it would lead to this, him staying in the Digital World with them. Helping him then had allowed her to gain him as her assistant, one that was connected to the whole Eater business. But he had proved himself time after time, surpassing even her expectations as he took on case after case, more than happy to help anyone out whether they be human or Digimon.

“I feel like I got hit by a Locomon,” he groaned and she looked up, smiling when she saw him starring up at the ceiling. She had taken on Kyoko’s form again, sitting in the room as a Digimon would had been a bit cramped. He looked over at her when he sat up, tilting his head to the side before he grinned. “Waiting for me to come around again?”

“It was a shorter wait this time around,” she told him with a smirk, watching him as he stretched his arms over his head. “What do you want to do here Takumi?” He looked over at her in surprise and dropped his hands back onto his lap, thinking it over before he looked out the window next to his bed.

“I want to help Digimon. I want to keep doing what I was doing back at the agency and more. I know there are still Digimon that are afraid of humans and I want to show them that not all humans are bad. I near there are still the ones that want to use Digimon for their own gain, thinking they’re nothing but tools but there are the ones like me, Nokia, Yuuko, and even Date who care what happens to them,” he said, looking to her with a smile. “I want to travel with my Digimon, that ones that want to go with me anyways. I want to see this world and meet new Digimon.” He could help but grin as he spoke, waving his arms enthusiastically towards the end.

“If anyone could accomplish it, it would be you,” she told him, ruffling his hair before moving towards the door. “Put your clothes on and come downstairs. The others have been waiting for you to wake up.”

Takumi watched her go before he flopped back on the bed. He was really in the Digital World and he was here to stay this time. He knew the others were probably worried about him and Nokia would probably hit him the next time he saw her but he wanted this. The clothes they had brought him were the same color scheme but were a different design. Black pants with an extra set of pockets above his knees, a yellow shirt with the logos from before in black, and a dark vest with an odd symbol stitched onto one of the pockets.

“Wonder what that is,” he muttered, running his fingers over the small green stitching. He shook his head, grabbing the belt bags they had given him. They were a bit smaller than his other ones but all his stuff was already stored inside.

He started to get nervous as he made his way downstairs. He knew that they Knights that were left were expecting him and thinking about it made him jittery. Would they be happy to see him or would they be mad that he had decided to stay? He stopped in the hall outside where they were all gathered and waiting for him, taking a deep breath and steeling his nerves. He was here now, what they thought didn’t matter to him, all he really cared about were his own Digimon. It wasn’t like he was going to see much of them once he started out. His Digimon were waiting for him and his Tokomon shot towards him once he stepped out.

“Takumi you’re up, you’re up!” he squealed happily, nuzzling his Tamer. “We were starting to wonder if you were going to sleep the entire time you were here.”

“Course not, I wouldn’t be able to see you guys if I did that,” he told the small Digimon with a grin, moving Tokomon so he could sit on his head while the rest of his Digimon surrounded him. Even the ones that had been at the farm were there and two blurs, one black and the other one white smacked into him. He instinctively wrapped his arms around the two Gatomon, the both of them clambering onto his shoulders.

“What makes them all want to follow a human?” Kentourosmon huffed as he looked over at the group on the other side of the hall. “Some of them are Ultimate or Mega, there’s no reason for them to follow him.”

“He is as much theirs as they are his,” Omnimon stated, watching as the Digimon surrounded the Tamer. The centaur like Digimon scoffed looked up and seeing the boy’s blue eyed Omnimon watching the two knights before turning his attention back to the Tamer. “I think you offended him,” the Omni Knight said in amusement, noticing that ChaosGallantmon and Imperialdramon were looking at them now. Kentourosmon rolled his eyes in response and walked off, seeing no reason for him to hang around.  
Takumi noticed the Knight’s departure and huffed. He knew the Digimon neither liked or disliked humans so he wasn’t really all that offended that he left.

“So what are we going to do now Takumi?” Veedramon asked, drawing the attention of the others.

“I wanna keep doing what we were doing before,” he told them, allowing himself to be picked up by Imperialdramon and placed on his shoulder.

“Helping Digimon,” Omnimon said and his Tamer nodded. “Most humans would have taken the chance to go back home rather than stay here.”

“I’m not like most humans,” the boy grinned and he felt warm from the affection his Digimon were projecting.

“Its hard to argue with that,” Garudomon said and the others agreed.

“You all know you don’t have to come with me,” he said and he could see that they were offended that he would even suggest they leave. “I mean, I’m not going to be able to bring all of you with me and we don’t have access to the farms anymore.”

“Then we build our own place,” MetalSeadramon stated and the others all eagerly agreed.

“There’s a plot of land not too far from here that we could see about you using to build a small village,” Alphamon said as she stepped forward.

“We’d appreciate the help,” Omnimon said, bowing a bit and making Alphamon laughed.

“Relax Omnimon,” she told him and he huffed. “We’ll see about getting the land but the building will be up to all of you.”

“We can do it,” Takumi said with a grin and his Digimon cheered in agreement. He wouldn’t start his travels until he knew his friends were comfortable in what would be their new home.

Gallantmon and the others watched the boy interact with the Digimon that had been in his care, Imperialdramon placing him back on the ground. They all seemed excited to see him again after his absence, the littler ones clambering onto him, forcing him to sit down and allow more of them to cover him.

“He’s an odd one for a human,” Gallantmon said as the rest of the knights left except for Alphamon. “It could be what drew Alphamon to him in the first place.”

“I’m still surprised he chose to stay,” Magnamon stated with a bit of a laugh. “This is an unfamiliar world and there will be those against him being here.”

“Guess we’ll see how things play out. Alphamon’s taken a shine to him though. It’s to be expected when you watch someone grow though,” Gallantmon said, looking over his shoulder.

“She’s taken him on as her apprentice. Her mark was on his vest and its even on the gloves she had tailored for him,” Gankoomon chuckled and that got the rest of the Knight’s attention.

“Do you think its wise for her to take on a human as her apprentice? In the human world it made sense but here…” Magnamon was uncertain about the whole thing but Omnimon let out a low laugh.

“I don’t think she could have chosen someone better. They understand each other and he’s kind enough to aid even the most stubborn of Digimon. He has a ChaosGallantmon that shows all the values of a Gallantmon,” the white knight pointed out in amusement.

They all looked back out into the hall, ChaosGallantmon standing with her arms over her chest and a few of the Rookie Digimon perched on her shoulders, a Gomamon settled on the top of her head. The virus Digimon looked over, meeting their gazes and glared, daring them to make something of it and the Knights quickly retreated, amused by the group.

“We should leave them be and think about what we are going to do about our missing Knights,” Gankoomon stated, leading them down the hall to their meeting room.

~

Alphamon watched Takumi interact with his Digimon for a bit before she stepped forward, drawing his attention.

“Walk with me Takumi,” she said and he got to his feet, placing the baby Digimon to the side so he didn’t end up stepping on any of them. A Botamon refused to be moved from the hood of his vest though and he sighed in defeat, allowing her to stay where she was. Alphamon watched in amusement before leading him down a separate hall. “What you’re going to do had never been done before. When you came here you were only a child but now you want to travel, help Digimon in need. There will be those that don’t approve of you being here.”

“I know but I want to try. You did teach me to try new things,” he reminded her and he shuddered a bit at the reminder of the coffee she used to make. “Plus, I didn’t want to leave my Digimon.”

“That I did and I’m glad I took you on as my apprentice. I want you to keep that title, even here,” she told him, holding a glove out to him. He looked up at her before taking the glove from her, turning it over in his hand and noticing the green stitching. It was similar to what was on his vest and he ran his fingers over the threads with a bit of a smile.

“Are you sure?” he asked, gripping it in his hand while she straightened up. “I mean, I’m a human and there have to be more capable Digimon out there way more qualified than me,” he frowned. That’s why it had been so familiar, it was the same pattern that appeared when she used Soul Digitalization.

“Maybe there are, but I’m choosing you Takumi. Its been quite a while since I last took on an apprentice. This isn’t a choice I made on a whim either. You have what it takes to be recognized as a knight and while there will be some that are against my decision, you’ll also have plenty of supporters,” she said, watching as he thought it over.  
He hadn’t come to this world looking to be an apprentice, but maybe this would help him find his place here.

“Alright, I’ll do it,” he said, pulling the glove on and looking up at her with a grin. “And I hope I don’t end up disappointing you.” She didn’t want her to be disappointed in her decision and he would work to prove that he was worthy of working under her.

“If you keep on the path you’re on, I doubt there’s any way you could disappoint me.” He flexed his fingers, the stitching lighting up momentarily before fading. Botamon gave a chirped and nuzzled her Tamer.

“Then I won’t let you down.”


	2. Building

Building up a small village proved to be a lot more work than he initially thought it would be. The baby Digimon were left in the care of Elecmon and Leomon, the two more than able to look after the few babies that there were. The in-training Digimon were running around, following the higher leveled one and doing their best to help.

So far they had managed to get some smaller houses up for the small Digimon. Most of them would be dropping down to smaller forms to make it easier to build houses instead of remaining in their larger forms all the time. They'd still be able to Digivolve to Champion, Ultimate, and Mega if they needed to.

Takumi was helping to gather up things to trade in a few of the neighboring villages and towns. He had headed into a cave with Gotsumon and Cyclonemon, the three of them looking for gems to trade for bedding and some kitchen stuff.

"Here, here," Gotsumon exclaimed, both he and his Tamer sitting on the back of the Champion. "I can smell gems in here," he told them, running to the wall and running his hands over the rocks, feeling around to find the sweet spot.

"Alright Cyclonemon," Takumi said, looking to the Champion with a grin. The larger Digimon huffed and took a stop forward , striking out with a claw and gouging out a chunk of the wall. The rocks cascaded down, gems wedged in them and Gotsumon picked up a few of them, looking them over before nodding. The group sorted through the rocks, tossing aside the ones that didn't have any of the gems wedged in them and putting the ones that did in a bag.

"Think this is enough?" Cyclonemon asked, looking to the Tamer while Gotsumon tied up the bag.

"It should be and if its not then we can always come back," he said, taking the bag and slinging it over his shoulder, stumbling a bit at the weight.

"I can carry it," the larger Digimon said, nudging the Tamer with his claw.

"I know but you carried us here and dug into the wall for us," Takumi replied, allowing Gotsumon to climb onto his shoulders.

"Your going to end up dropping him," Cyclone said, amused by his Tamer who was struggling a bit under the Rookie and gem weight.

"It's good training, especially if I want to be able to stand along side you guys. Can't let you do all the work."

He ended up falling over halfway back, making Cyclone laugh before he lifted them both onto his back. "See, I almost made it all the way back," he laughed as he slumped forward, letting the motions of Cyclone walking pull him into a doze.

ChaosGallantmon was watching the road leading to the mountain that her Tamer and Digimon had headed off to. She knew better than to doubt the two he had taken but they didn't know how Digimon would react to seeing a human here in the Digital World. It was after noon when she spotted something moving through the trees, recognizing Cyclone's orange body moments later. Takumi was leaning forward, his head resting on the back of the Champion's head but he was grinning while Gotsumon animatedly talked about something.

"Watching the road for us?" Cyclone asked once he was in earshot and she scoffed.

"I was keeping an eye out for any unknown Digimon," she replied, turning her attention back to the road. She could hear her Tamer laugh as they headed to their village and she huffed, glad that they had at least gotten back in one piece.

"You look like you went a few rounds with a Growlmon," Jesmon said as he plucked Takumi off of Cyclone's back and placed him on the ground, watching as he fell back onto the grass.

"Just tried carrying Gotsumon and the bag back," he told him with a grin as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"Why?"

"Training," Gotsumon said, hopping down and puffing up his chest. "Takumi wants to get stronger so he made it into a training exercise."

"Stronger? You planning on taking out some Digimon yourself?"

"Of course not, but you never know what'll happen. We could end up getting separated in the middle of a battle or while we're traveling. I've gotta at least be able to defend myself."

"I've got a solution," Jesmon said as he lowered himself down and poked the human in the chest. "Don't get separated from us."

"It isn't that easy! What if something happens to you guys and I couldn't do anything to help. I don't want to be the only one being protected out there. I want to be able to help."

The mark on the back of his glove shone briefly and the knight Digimon gave a low sigh, looking to the boy with a searching gaze. This was probably one of the reasons Alphamon had chosen him to be her apprentice in the first place. He was always concerned for others over himself, willing to put himself out there to help, the find a solution that spared who ever he could.

"Alright, if you're serious about this then I'll help you. I'm sure the others wouldn't mind helping you out too."

"Thanks Jesmon."

~

"You think its a good idea?" Hackmon asked, looking to an Agumon and Gabumon. Both Rookies had scarves wrapped around their necks and another Agumon had a blue scarf wrapped around his. There were two Guilmon sitting side by side, one with a gold scarf and the other with a purple.

"He would still do it even if we were against it," the violet scarfed Guilmon stated before she took a bit of the fruit she was holding.

"He does have a point though. There are going to be times when we can't protect him. It would be better to have him know some self defense," Gaomon added, looking to Hackmon. None of them liked the thought of it but it was a good point, the didn't want him to be completely defenseless if something happened.

"Alright then, we'll help him train then. If he wants to get stronger, then as his partners we should help him," Kudamon said and Gaomon nodded in agreement.

"Fine, but just because he's our Tamer doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on him," Hackmon huffed and the rest of the group laughed in response.

~

Takumi was sitting on the roof of one of the finished cabins, watching the Digimon that were wake move around and laugh around the fires. The baby and in-training Digimon were already asleep inside and he smiled as he looked up at the moon. He wondered how the others were doing. Hopefullythey were all alright and moving on. He felt bad about breaking the promised to go back together and he knew Nokia was going to probably kick his ass for it. He laughed a bit at the thought, looking down at the symbol on his glove. He couldn't bring himself to regret his decision though.

"Hopefully she doesn't beat me too bad when I see them again," he said with a nervous laugh.

"I don't think she'll injure you too badly," a voice stated and he looked behind him, spotting the green eyed Omnimon and giving him a gin.

"Hey, come to see how we were doing?"

"A few other Knights were wondering how you were doing and I volunteered to see if you were doing alright. Looks like we didn't really need to worry about you guys though," Omnimon said with a low laugh. "Alphamon wanted to come by but things have been busy. We've been looking for Digimon to fill in the places the other Knights left open. Since they were defeated in the human world we're not sure if they'll appear in the Village of Beginning," he explained. "And even then, if they retain they're memories they'll be against you being here."

"Ah let them be upset. You helped save both the Digital world and the human world," Veemon said, peeking his head over the lip of the roof and hauling himself up.

"I thought you were on look-out," Takumi said in amusement as the Rookie dropped onto his lap and dug into the fruit he had brought with him.

"I was but then I got hungry and Kudamon offered to take up watch for a bit."

"He's right though. Regardless of what other Digimon or the other Knights think, you earned your place here amongst us," Omnimon said and the Tamer still looked unsure but no one pressed the conversation further.

~

"Your endurance is lacking," Kentaurosmon said, looking down at where Takumi had dropped back onto the grass. "You would think that running around as a Cyber Sleuth would have helped with that."

"New body," the boy panted before he sat up and looked at him. "I think training is going to be a bit longer than I thought."

"Training yourself up to what you're thinking isn't going to happen in a week."

"I know, I know. I was just hoping I would still have some of my athletic ability. We did run all over the city constantly."

"Maybe it's another way for Alphamon to test you." It was something they had all been thinking the night before. Just because she had accepted him as her apprentice didn't mean she was going to make things easy for him.

"I wouldn't put it past her to do something like that," he grunted, pushing himself back to his feet. "Alright, I still have another lap since I only did the one."

"Two. Every time you stop I'm going to add another lap."

"What?! Do you want me to not be able to move tomorrow?"

"I'll start adding half laps if you keep whining."

"I'm moving, I'm moving!" Kentaurosmon laughed as the Tamer started running again, a few of the Rookie Digimon following after him, shouting encouragement. Most of them had dropped by the end of it, a ToyAgumon the only one left running and even he dropped down when Takumi did, the both of them wheezing for breath.

"He's a slave driver," the Rookie groaned and Takumi laughed, pushing himself to sit up and pat the Digimon on the head.

"You didn't have to run the whole thing with me."

"I know but if you're gonna get stronger then I wanna get stronger too!" The Agumon yelped when he was pulled into a side hug, the boy giving him a grin.

"Then let's show them that we're not gonna give up!"

"Yeah! And then I'll be able to Digivolve like Hackmon and Veemon!" They both of them let out noises of surprise when they were picked up, Kentaurosmon placing them both on his back.

"Let's get the both of you to the lake. You reek and I'm sure the others can smell you." The lake was something the Digimon had built, the Earth Digimon digging down until they found an underground spring. The Water Digimon had helped by filling it too and now they had a source of water that was closer than the one that was four miles away.

Kentaurosmon dropped them both in the water, making the human and Digimon flail before hitting the water.

"Why?" ToyAgumon cried, looking up at the larger Digimon with a glare while Takumi floated on the surface of the water.

"Feels great," the boy sighed, looking over as Seadramon poked her head out of the water. "Seadramon!"

The serpent allowed him to swim over and settle on the top of her head. He gave a content sigh, his body relaxing as he rested on her, ToyAgumon heading back to shore and shaking himself out.

"Comfortable?" she asked and he hummed in response, his eyes closed.

"I'll take that as a yes," she smiled, lowering her head a bit so more water washed over him.

"Kentaurosmon is trying to kill me," he hummed, opening his eyes enough to glare at the larger Digimon who simply smirked at him.

"He's helping, even if he is pushing you to your limit," she chuckled and he huffed in agreement. "Just wait until the others get a hold of you."

"I'd rather not think about it," he groaned, sliding off her head and sinking down so only his eyes were visible. 

"You'll do fine. You managed to take down the Knights and the Eater Queen. A bit of training will be easy enough," MetalSeadramon said as he rose up out of the water.

"You guys did all the fighting. I was just support," Takumi said, giving the Mega a smile.

"We wouldn't have managed it without you. You helped us grow stronger, to Digivolve. We wanted to protect you and now we're helping you grow stronger so you can protect us if it ever comes to that."

"You know, I remember when you were a little Poyomon. You wanted to fight everyone on the team, even MetalGreymon before he became WarGreymon," Takumi laughed and the metal serpent sank down into the water, embarrassed. "You've really grown since then," he added in a softer tone and he swam over to him, pulling himself up onto MetalSeadramon's head. The Digimon swelled with affection for his Tamer, allowing him to settled by his horn. "What do you think of all this?"

MetalSeadramon started to swim to swim in lazy circles as he thought it over, Takumi enjoying the gentle breeze.

"You trust Alphamon, she's guided you since the beginning, when the Eater first got a hold of you. She hasn't led you astray yet and us Digimon trust her well enough, she stood beside us in that final battle. Your growing and you'll grow more here in the Digital World but maybe she should have waited to make you her apprentice. You don't know a lot about our world and there are still Digimon that are distrustful of human. Travelling and learning about this world would have been a better idea before she granted you that apprenticeship," the serpent said and the boy hummed in response.

"Would have been a good idea, wonder what her reasoning was," he muttered, laying back and watching the sky.

"Let's get you back before you end up getting sunburned," the Digimon said after an hour and a half of swimming.

"But its comfortable," he whined, rolling onto his stomach and throwing his arms out like he was giving MetalSeadramon a hug. He was gently deposited back onto the shore, a wave of water washing over him. "Hey!"

"Takumi!" He looked over, spotting ToyAgumon as he ran over, waving his arms. "Alphamon is here. She says she wants to talk to you."

"Did she say why?"

"Nope, just said that it was important." The Royal Knight was waiting for him in one of the finished buildings. It was still a bit bizarre, seeing Kyoko and he wondered how she was still able to swap between the two forms.

"Enjoying your swim with you Digimon?"

"Yeah, it felt good after Kentaurosmon tried to kill me," he grinned, dropping onto one of the cushions.

"I heard about that but it looked like you had fun working with your team even if it was exhausting," she said, smiling as she held out her hand. He reached out, taking the goggles from her and running his fingers over the lenses. "It doesn't have nearly as much room as your previous one but you'll need one while you're here. I don't think it'll be easy to travel with a whole team while your out. They're a bit sturdier than the ones you previously used since the environments here are a bit harsher than what you endured in the human world." He slipped them onto his head, adjusting them until they rested comfortably on his head and he smiled, messing around with the menu to get a feel for the device.

"How are things going with the Knights?"

"We haven't found any sign of the Knights that were defeated in your world. We're going to have to keep an eye out for Digimon that show promise as  Knight."

"I wonder if they knew what was going to happen when they lost," he said, fiddling with his glove. He really hadn't wanted to take them out but they were trying to destroy the human world and he wasn't' about to let that happen. "Do you think that some Digimon will see me as the villain for taking out some of the Knights?"

"There are going to be some. Regardless of what they were trying to accomplish they were still Royal Knights."

"Yeah, I figured as much," he grumbled, leaning back against the wall with his arms folded over his chest. "But I stand by my decisions. It had to be done and I know my team feels the same way."

"They're biased, they know you after all," she said with a smirk and he laughed.

"Guess that's true, but they saw the worst of humanity too," he reminded her, getting to his feet and stretching his arms over his head.

"And yet it didn't sway their opinion or mine. I should be going now. There's still a lot we have to go through and areas we need to check."

"Thanks Alphamon," he said, giving her a small smile. "For giving me that offer and for deciding to take your chances on me."

"I'm glad I did, my little apprentice," she replied, patting his shoulder before she walked out, returning to her Knight form and taking off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the next chapter is the start of Takumi's journey away from the Knights and most of his Digimon. Man its a lot of work looking for Digivolution lines and attacks guys but its real fun too. The next chapter is long guys, like really long so that's gonna be fun to type out.


	3. Frozen Caverns

Leaving the village had been harder than he thought it would be. The baby Digimon had been upset and everyone wanted to go with him. He’d only taken seven with him this time and a lot of his knights hadn’t been happy about it. Two of his Agumon, BlackGabumon, Gabumon, Hackmon, Betamon, and ToyAgumon had been his choice for the trip this time around, the seven of them on stand-by in his Digivice. He was cutting through a cave and he thought it would be safer for him to go it alone. The others didn’t agree with him and were silently sulking about it.

“Honestly guys, it’s fine,” he sighed, tapping his fingers against the device.

“You don’t know what’s lurking in these caves Takumi. There could be Digimon or DemiDevimon lurking around,” Hackmon stated and the Tamer rolled his eyes with a smile.

“It’s fine and I think I’m almost out anyways,” he replied, shuddering as the wind blew through. They’d been traveling for a week and he had swapped them out every few hours, making sure they all got time to stretch their legs.

His breath was starting to fog up and he frowned, the cold sending a chill through him. “Is it cold or is it just me?”

“Dunno, we’re stuck in here,” Hackmon stated and Takumi sighed and tapped at the goggles, using his gloved hand to scroll through the menu. Betamon popped into existence in front of him and he quickly grabbed the little green Digimon out of the air before he could hit the ground.

“Sorry. I’m still trying to figure out how to summon you guys without you hitting the ground,” he apologized, letting Betamon move into the hood of his vest.

“You weren’t kidding when you said it was cold,” he said, shivering as he did his best to burrow into the hood. “And you’re not dressed for this kind of weather either. Maybe we should go in another direction and come back when you get some warmer clothes.”

“We’ve already made it this far and maybe there’s an outpost or something before we hit the worst of it,” Takumi said with a smirk, waiting for the Rookie to settle before he started walking again.

“And if we don’t then we’re turning back around and getting you some warmer clothes,” Betamon stated, refusing to let his Tamer disagree. The small Digimon was warm in his hiding place, watching Takumi’s back until they reached the exit.

Snow blanketed the world outside the cave, the chill making him flinch back. “Damn, its colder that I thought it was going to be,” he huffed out, wrapping his arms around himself. The walk was slow, the snow up to his knees and chilling everything below his knees.

“Takumi, we should go back before you get sick,” his Digimon said, poking his head out and looking over his shoulder.

“Not yet,” he replied, spotting something in the distance. The building was small but there was a sign outside that advertised it as a store. “See, I told you we’d find something.” The shop was warm inside and he let out a sigh, glad that he was starting to get feeling back in his fingers.

“Welcom, what can I help you with?” a soft voice asked and he turned, spotting a Frigimon coming around some of the shelves. “You’re a human,” she said, startled by the sight of him.

“Yeah, um, sorry to intrude but I was wondering if you had a jacket or some warm clothes I could buy,” he said, quickly bowing to the ice Digimon. The Frigimon looked at him and he shuffled on his feet nervously until Betamon poked his head out and hummed, happy they had found somewhere warm.

“You have a Digimon?”

“Yeah, they’re my friends,” the Tamer told her with a small smile, reaching up to pat Betamon on the head. He could hear someone else moving around the store and when he turned he found a Monzaemon looming over him.

“What’s a huan doing here in the Digital World?” the yellow bear demanded with a growl.

“I-I,” he wasn’t sure how to explained what had happened and he could feel Betamon tense up from where he was perched on his head.

“Monzaemon that’s enough,” Frigimon said, walking up behind the boy and his Digimon. “They just came by to buy a few things.”

“Humans aren’t supposed to be here,” Monzaemon said, glaring at the boy. “He may look harmless but you know how humans are.”

“Leave him alone!” Betamon cried as he launched himself at the Ultimate leveled Digimon.

“Betamon stop!”The Rookie hit the bear in the stomach and he was bounced back, the lareger Digimon raising a paw to strike him down. Takumi reacted, launching himself forward and curling himself around Betamon. The paw hit him in the side, pain flaring in his ribs before he hit the wall. He kept himself curled around his Digimon as the yellow bear stalked forward.

“Your protected him, why?” the bear asked, looking down at them, his red eyes narrowed.

“Because he’s my friend now leave him alone!” Betamon yelled, barring his teeth.

“Betamon stop. Look, we’ll leave, I promise. Just don’t hurt Betamon,” Takumi said as he clutched the small Digimon to his chest. He knew Betamon could Digivolve to MetalSeadramon but he didn’t want to cause anymore trouble. Monzaemon looked down at them before he gave a huff and backed oof, heading for the back room. Takumi gave a sigh, his ribs aching from the hit and he loosened his grip on the Rookie, resting his head against the wall.

“I’m sorry about him. He doesn’t trust humans much and seeing you here was a bit of a shock for him,” Frigimon said, worry coloring her tone as she kneeled down next to him.

“I’m alright. I’m just a bit achy is all,” he told her with a bit of a smile.

“Liar! Your hurt, you just don’t want anyone to feel bad,” Betamon accused, hiding his face against his Tamer’s chest.

“We have a room behind the house that we rent out to travelers when they come through. You can use it for the time being,” Frigimon offered and the boy looked up at her with a frown.

“Won’t Monzaemon be upset? He doesn’t like humans so wouldn’t me hanging around cause more problems?”

“He won’t bother you much. He’s more worried about the gang of Digimon that comes through. They’ve been trying to break into our storage shed for the last month but he’s been able to drive them off every time so far.”

“I’ll take you up on the offer for the room then,” Takumi said and Betamon looked up at him with a frown.

~  
“You just wanna chase off that gang,” Betamon said from where he was settled on the bed with the rest of the team.

“Course I do. Monzaemon can hold them off for now but who knows how much longer he can scare them off.”

“Why do we have to though? He hurt you,” he stated unhappily and ToyAgumon hopped onto the bed next to him.

“He was aiming for you thought,” BlackGabumon pointed out, biting into the fish that Frigimon had given them.

“Monzaemon was going to hurt him anyways and I wasn’t going to sit by and do nothing.”

“Guys, it’s done,” Takumi said as he looked to them. “Let’s eat and get some sleep.” He had known it wasn’t going to be easy but facing it in reality was a lot harder than just thinking about it. Hackmon was the first one awake in the morning and he stretched himself out before he headed towards the front, pushing the door that separated the hall from the store open. “Hiya Frigimon,” the Rookie greeted as he walked up to her, lifting a claw to wave.

“Where did you come from? You didn’t come through the mountain pass, did you?”

“Nope, well, kinda. That kid you let stay here is my Tamer. His name’s Takumi and there are a few more of us too,” he told her, hopping onto one of the stools at the counter.

“I thought he only had that little Betamon,” she said and he shook his head.

“Nah, there’s a few more of us. We just take turns being out of the Digivice is all.”

~  
Takumi woke up feeling sore, his ribs aching where Monzaemon had hit him and he winced as he sat up, pressing a hand the bruise that had formed. “Guess we’re going to have to head back through the cave and explore this area later,” he sighed and Shine, the blue scarfed Agumon, yawned in response. He smiled and patted the Dino Digimon on the head when a crash ran out, startling the rest of his team awake. The Tamer quickly called everyone back to his Digivice, leaving Betamon, looking around and noticing one was missing. “Where’s Hackmon?”

“He was here when we fell asleep last night.” Takumi ran out of the room and towards the front of the shop, shoving the door open and calling out for his Digimon. The shop was a mess, items missing and thrown all over the place and the door was hanging off its hinges.

“Hackmon!? Hackmon!”

“Takumi!” It was faint but he could hear his name and he ran out the front of the store, seeing a group of Digimon taking off with Frigimon and Hackmon.

“Hackmon!” He ran through the snow, trying to chase after them but they already had a head start and the snow was slowing him down. He tripped before long, his feet frozen since he hadn’t pulled his boots on before he ran out of the shop.

“Get back inside boy, your going to freeze out here,” Monzaemon said as he walked up, stopping beside him as he watched the gang disappear in the distance.

“I can’t. I have to get Hackmon back,” he protested and he found himself being lifted by the back of his shirt. Monzaemon didn’t say anything as he walked back into the stop and dropped him on his stomach.

“Stay here while I go get Frigimon and your Digimon back,” he growled and Takumi shot up in protest.

“I can’t let me help,” he said and Monzaemon growled in response, glaring down at him.

“I don’t want your help and your Betamon wouldn’t be any good against them.” Betamon made an offended noise but the Ultimate leveled Digimon was already heading outside again, a red scarf wrapped around his neck.

“Your feet look frozen,” the Rookie stated and his Tamer sighed before struggling to his feet. “What are we gonna do? We can’t leave rescuing Hackmon to him.”

“We’re not going to but first I need to get the feeling back in my feet,” he huffed, heading back to the room. A tub of hot water and three layers of socks later and he most of the feeling back in his feet. “They’ve got a hell of a head start on us.”

“Yeah but if we have Omnimon or one of the others fly us then we can get there really fast.”

“Any of you guys up for it?” Takumi asked and he heard all of them volunteer. “Alright Betamon, in,” he said, watching the little Digimon disappear before he headed back outside, the snow crunching under his boots. “Let’s go, Omnimon!” The warrior appeared in front of him, kneeling down and helping him climb onto his shoulder. “Let’s get Hackmon back!”

~

“You cowards! Takumi’s gonna find you guys and tear you apart!” the Rookie yelled through the bars of his cell.

“Shut up ya runt. No ones gonna find ya out here,” a SnowGoblimon sneered, whacking the bars with his club.

“Yeah, you’ll be lucky if that Monzaemon even makes it out here. Even then, he ain’t gonna care about a runt like you,” another SnowGoblimon laughed. Hackmon could see some difference between the three of them. One of them had a gold tooth, another had a scar on his cheek, and the last one had a cracked club.

“You’re wrong! He’ll find you and kick your butts!”

“Shut up already you runt,” another voice snarled and Hackmon was sent tumbling back with an icy blast. IceDevimon looked to the Rookie in annoyance, the SnowGoblimon snickering.

“Bet ya wouldn’t call me runt if I could Digivolve,” Hackmon growled as he stumbled back to his feet. “I could kick your butt!”

“Then why don’t you Digivolve if your so confident?” the Champion asked with a grin.

“Cuz, cuz Takumi isn’t here! If he was then we’d be able to destroy you guys!”

“Who’s this Takumi you keep whining about?”

“I’m not telling you anything,” hooded Digimon growled and he yelped when he was hit with icicles.

“Since you won’t quiet down it looks like I’ll have to let the SnowGoblimon teach you how to keep it down,” IceDevimon smirked and the three Rookies grinned, hitting their clubs against their hands. Hackmon gulped and back up to the corner of the cell, the three Virus Digimon crowding into the cell.

“Ain’t so cocky no, are ya runt?” Gold tooth asked with a grin.

“I can take you guys,” Hackmon growled, taking a fighting stance and barring his teeth.

~

Monzaemon stood in what he assumed was the main room for the gang. There were chests filled with goods and he could see a BlueMeramon sitting at a table.

“So, I’m guessing you’re the leader of the gang of idiots that keeps trying to rob my store?”

“I don’t know if I would call them idiots. They’ve managed to rob every other location I’ve sent them to,” the fire Digimon grinned as he got to his feet. “Here’s how this is going to work. You’ll give us what we want along with fifty percent of what you make from now on and we’ll let you and Frigimon go. Fail to meet our demands and you’ll find yourself back at the Village of Beginnings.”

“I’ll go with neither of those options,” Monzaemon stated, running at the BlueMeramon. The table snapped un half from the force of the blow and the Virus Digimon jumped back, grinning.

“Frost Knuckle!” The Meramon’s fist connected with Monzaemon’s stomach, sending him flying back into the wall. The Virus Digimon stalked forward, blue flames lighting up in the palms of his hands. The bear Digimon threw the leg of a table at him, startling him and giving the Vaccine type time to tackle him, throwing him across the room.

“Well, it’s good to see you’ve got some fight in you,” Meramon laughed, kicking Monzaemon off and throwing handfuls of blue flames at him.

“Hearts Attack!” The heart shaped bubbles were sucked into the bubbles and they popped higher in the air, causing small explosions away from them. Meramon moved to avoid a jab and flames engulfed his fist.

“Ice Phantom!” He hit the bear in the back, the flames licking at his fur and he spun, his arm out and knocking the fire Digimon away. He grabbed a table and threw it at Meramon but the Virus Type shattered it with a punch, grinning over at the bear.

Hyogamon was stalking around the room, the club in his hand raised over his head. “Ice Cudgel!” The club hit Monzaemon on the back of the head and the ice Ogremon hit him across the back and the sides a few times.

“Ice Bomb!” BlueMeramon started gathering ice in his hands, the ball growing until it was as big as he was. Hyogamon ran out of the room, leaving the Vaccine type dazed on the ground as BlueMeramon dropped the bomb. The Ultimate Virus Digimon backed out of the room and grinned as the bomb went off, the sound of wood shattering and metal being thrown around the room ringing in the hall.

~

“What was that?” BlackGabumon asked as he walked alongside his Tamer. Pieces of rock and dust fell around them, forcing them to stop until it passed.

“I dunno but I don’t like the sound of it,” Takumi muttered as they started running. The hall lead to a chamber, cells lining the walls and they could hear laughing coming from one of them.

“Not so tuff now are ya?” someone laughed and a pained grunt followed afterwards.

“Just you wait. Takumi will show you guys and then you’ll be sorry!” There was so much pain in the tone that it made the Tamer’s hear seize before he started running.

“Hackmon!”

“Takumi!” There was hope and relief in the Rookie’s voice and he rounded the cell, finding three Digimon that looked like Goblimon surrounding Hackmon. “You made it!”

“Gabu!” The BlackGabumon moved at his Tamer’s command, running in and knocking the three Digimon away from his friend. “I’m sorry Hackmon,” Takumi said as he kneeled down next to him and took him in his arms.

“It’s alright, I knew you’d show up,” the Data Type said with a smile, burrowing against his chest. “Glad to see you too Gabu.”

“I wouldn’t leave you behind,” the Gabumon replied, giving him a smile. They moved out of the cell and slammed the door shut behind them, tossing the keys away from the door so they wouldn’t be getting out any time soon.

“So, you’re the one that Rookie wouldn’t shut up about. I didn’t expect you to be human,” a voice sneered and they turned to see IceDevimon watching them.

“Takumi, he’s the one that grabbed me,” Hackmon whispered, glaring at the Champion. “They want Frigimon and Monzaemon to pay them half of what they make every month so they’ll leave them alone.”

“Silence you sniveling pup,” the virus Digimon snarled and both Takumi and Gabu bristled.

“You can’t talk to him like that!” the Tamer yelled as Gabu moved to stand in front of the two of them.

“And what are you going to do about? Avalanche Claw!” He spread his wings wide and icicles shot down at the three of them. Gabu rolled forward while his partner jumped back, making sure to land on his back so he didn’t hurt Hackmon anymore than he already was. “You won’t get away from me,” the demon Digimon laughed, swatting Gabu out of the way when he tried to stop him from going after the others.

“Yeah! Show him who’s boss IceDevimon!” Gold tooth cheered from where he was watching from the cell.

“Stay away from them!” Gabu yelled as Takumi ran, over turning a table as more icicles shot towards them. He flinched back as the ice pierced the wood and kicked the table at the Devimon who swatted at it with a clawed hand, shattering it.

“Now then, let’s finish this. Your hardly worth the effort of capturing. Razor Wing!”

“Gabu!” Takumi yelled, his eyes clenched shut and the Digivice started to glow.

“BlackGabumon warp Digivolve to Belphamon!” The Sin Digimon roared, striking the Devimon with one of his claws, getting the Champion away from his Tamer and friend. “You will not touch them,” he snarled, smoke flowing from between his teeth.

“Tundra Freeze!” Ice beams shot from Demimon’s eyes but Gabu brought one of his claws up, blocking the attack, unfazed. IceDevimon backed up, as the Sin Digimon took a step forward and even the SnowGoblimon had quieted down, the three of them shaking in the corner of the cell. This was a Mega leveled Digimon and one of the Sins at that, there was no way they would be able to take him out.

“No one hurts Hackmon,” he growled out while Takumi got to his feet, his Tamer keeping a bit of distance between himself and the battling duo. “No one tries to take away what’s important to me.”

“Now let’s talk something out. I didn’t know that sweet little Rookie was friends with someone as powerful as you,” the Champion said with a nervous laugh. He could see the boy watching them and if he could take him out there was a possibility that the Mega would back off. After all, it looked like he had Digivolved thanks to the device the  boy was wearing on his head.

“And why should I work something out with you?” Belphamon demanded and the Devimon grinned.

“Because you’ll regret it when you don’t! Avalanche Claw!” He spread his wings and the icicles shot out, missing the Mega entirely and heading for Takumi instead. The Tamer curled himself around Hackmon as the ice hit them, gritting his teeth as the ice hit, cutting into his arms and back.

“Gift of Darkness!” Belphamon roared, charging at IceDevimon, green flames engulfing his claws and he shredded the Champion. IceDevimon gave a cry of surprise before he burst into Data, the Sin Digimon giving another roar before he reverted back to BlackGabumon. “Takumi, Hackmon!” He ran over to where his Tamer and best friend were and they boy uncurled from over the Rookie, falling back so he was sitting. “Are you alright? I should have attacked him sooner.” If he hadn’t paused then he wouldn’t have been hurt and bleeding.

“I’m gonna be okay Gabu. It just stings,” he smiled, patting his dark furred friend on the head.

“That was awesome Gabu! You took him out with one attack!” Hackmon cheered, tackling him in a hug that the Gabumon happily returned.

“Its not that amazing,” Gabu said, glad that Hackmon was alright.

“Of course it is. Its still hard to believe you Digivolve into Belphamon thought, you’re usually so mild mannered and quiet.”

“Well you Digivolve into the calm and level headed Jesmon.”

“Hey! I can be calm and quiet.”

“When you sleep maybe,” Gabu teased and Takumi laughed, pushing himself to his feet.

“Alright guys, I need to call War out. You two can rest in the Device,” he told them and while they didn’t look happy about it, they complied.

“You look like you got hit by a Snimon,” War said as soon as he was out, the red scarfed Agumon  sniffing at the air.

“Don’t worry about it right now. We need to find Monzaemon and Frigimon,” Takumi said and the two took off running down a connecting hall.

“This way,” War said, taking off down another hall. The two ran until they came to a locked door and they grinned at each other. “Pepper Breath!” The lock shattered from the attack and the door swung open, letting the hot air in the room out.

“Frigimon!” the two cried when the spotted the snow bear Digimon in the room.

  
“You came,” she said, slowly sitting up and Takumi helped her up, not liking how warm she was. “Your little Hackmon had so much faith in you. I’m glad to see it wasn’t misplaced.”

“Course not. My Digimon are my friends and partners. I’d never leave them behind,” he said with a grin.

“Talk later, we’ve still gotta find Monzaemon and I can hear something going on further down the hall,” War said, looking over at them and the Tamer nodded.

“Now you gonna change your answer for the boss?” There was a conversation going on and War didn’t like how that conversation was going.

“Stay here Frigimon. We’ll get Monzaemon,” the Agumon said as they helped her sit down. The two charged into the room and they found Monzaemon pinned under BlueMeramon’s foot with an icy Ogremon tapping his ice club against the ground.

“Hey, get off of him!” War yelled, headbutting the Ogremon and spitting fire at the Meramon. Takumi’s device beeped at him, bringing up the name for the new Digimon.

“Hyogamon,” the Tamer muttered before he shook his head and ran over to Monzaemon.

“I thought I told you I didn’t want your help,” he growled, his voice low as he pushed himself up, the boy supporting some of his weight.

“I’ve never been very good at listening,” he grinned and turned his attention back to the fight when he heard War cry out, the Hyogamon hitting him under the jaw with his club.

“A human child, here in the Digital World?” BlueMeramon said, looking to him from where he was beside Monzaemon. “Well, I guess I could sell you off. There has to be someone who would pay nicely for a human.”

“You aren’t selling him to anyone,” War growled, standing in front of his Tamer and the injured Digimon.

“Be careful, the two of them like to play dirty,” Monzaemon growled and War grinned.

“Let’s show them War!” Takumi called and the Agumon nodded as the Digivice lit up.

“Agumon warp Digivolve to WarGreymon!” The Mega leveled Digimon took stance, a rumbling growl sounding from hi as he raised a gauntleted hand. “So, who wants to go first?”

“You don’t scare me!” Hyogamon yelled as he launched himself at the larger Digimon, his club making contact with one of War’s gauntlets. War snarled and flung the ice Digimon back before bringing his shield around and blocking the flames that BlueMeramon threw his way.

“So, you think you have a right to steal from other Digimon, take what they’ve earned for yourself?” WarGreymon demanded as he stepped forward, anger in his tone.

“What business we do is none of your business,” Meramon snarled as ice encased his fist and he charged forward. “Frost Knuckle!” His fist made contact with War’s face, the Mega level unmoving and the Virus type grinned but it quickly faded when an emerald green eye looked to him, rage burning in them. War pushed back against the Meramon before he twisted his body, his leg hitting the fire type in the side hard enough to end him crashing into the chests that were piled up in the corner, the wood shattering from the impact.

“Behind you!” Takumi yelled and War turned, grabbing the Hyogamon’s club before it could make contact with his head and tossing him into Meramon, a pain grunt sounding from the ice type.

“Get off of me,” Meramon snarled, shoving the Hyogamon off and getting back to his feet. “Let’s see you shake this off! Ice Bomb!” War moved in front of Takumi and Monzaemon, pulling his shield from his back and planting it in front of them. The blast pushed him back and he could hear Takumi yell something before he felt pain flare up his neck and he stumbled forwards.

“Snow Barrier!” The ice wall but War off from Monzaemon and his Tamer and anger flared in him. He snapped his shield back into place and he brought his claws around only for them to be deflected by the Digimon’s club. Hyogamon landed and launched himself over the barrier, grinning as he looked to the Tamer. “Now, you’re the key to all of this. Take you out and your Digimon will fall,” he roared, his club hitting the ground where the boy had been.

Monzaemon pushed himself up but he couldn’t get to his feet. He pulled the boy behind him and Takumi looked to him, surprised that the Digimon would even try to protect him. “Run kid, you’re no match for a Digimon,” he growled, red eyes narrowing as he looked to the ice Digimon.

“You’re too injured right now Monzaemon,” Takumi said as he moved to his side and glared over at the Hyogamon. He could call out another Digimon but ShineGreymon and MetalSeadramon wouldn’t be able to fit in the space.

“Ice Cudgel!” Hyogamon leapt at them, his club raised over his head and Monzaemon lifted an arm, blocking the attack and jabbing the attacking Digimon in the stomach.

“Takumi!” War yelled and he brought his claws up to break through the ice but blue flames hit him from behind, making him stumble.

“Your opponent is me,” BlueMeramon growled with a grin, the flames on his body burning bright. “Ice Phantom!” His fist hit War in the chest and ice started to spread over his armor until the Mega pushing him back, taking a swipe at the fire Digimon but missing.

“Let’s see how you like this!” Hyogamon laughed, swinging at Takumi and the Tamer dropped down onto his knees, moving so he balanced on his hands and striking the Digimon in the knee. He didn’t have enough force to break anything, but it was enough to make his opponent draw back with a curse and a snarl. “So, there is some fight in you.”

“I didn’t train for nothing,” the boy grinned as he planted his feet on the ground and launched himself back. He could see armor and weapons in the mess and he sprinted towards a sword that lying against the wall. BanchoLeomon had let him use his blade for a bit of practice and while he wasn’t great at using it, he could at least defend himself. He sprinted towards it, Hyogamon moving after him and he managed to scoop up the weapon, bringing it around to block the club before it could hit him in the chest.

He fell back with the Digimon standing over him, the club pressing down on him and the flat of the blade moving towards his chest. “You’re still just a human no matter how much you train, you don’t stand a chance of beating a Digimon.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t try!” Takumi yelled, grabbing a handful of dirt and throwing it in his eyes, making the Digimon reel back with a startled yell. He gripped the blade tight in his hands as he jumped back to his feet, raising the sword high over his head and putting as much strength as he could behind the blow. The symbol on the back of his glove flared as the blade cleaved through the Hyogamon, data springing up from his body before evaporating into nothing.

Takumi stood panting, his energy drained out after the attack and he could hear WarGreymon cry out in pain as another wave of flames hit him in the chest.

“You think you can come here and wipe out my gang! You think I’m going to take that lying down!” BlueMeramon roared in anger as the flames on his body brightened.

“Get out of here Monzaemon!” War yelled as he looked over his shoulder as Takumi ran over to his Digimon. “Get Frigimon back to the shop!” Monzaemon stopped and looked at the two of them, the boy was looking at him and he gave a nod. What made the bear Digimon stop though was the outline behind him, the shadow turning its red eyes to him before it vanished.

“You better come back boy,” the bear growled before he left the room, the Meramon throwing flames after him but War stepped in and blocked the flames, growling as the metal of his gauntlets heated up.

“You think you’re better than me?! Protecting a human and a Digimon weaker than me?!” Meramon roared, his body burning cold enough to make Takumi draw back, the chill making frost crystalize on his skin. “I’ll show the both of you!” White light filled the room, blinding the two of them and forcing them to cover their eyes. Something hit War in the side and he hit the wall hard enough for cracks to appear in the rock and dust to shift loose from the ceiling. “Boltmon,” the new Digimon growled, looking to the two of them, pulling his axe back and resting it over his shoulder. “The two of you will pay for what you’ve done here,” he snarled, bringing the axe around and burying the tip in the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took a bit longer to get out. I ended up changing it from the written version I had and it ended up being way longer than I thought it was going to be. I ended up cutting the third Chapter in half too because this one was already ten pages long. Boltmon and the fight at the end of this chapter weren't even originally there, it was shorter but while I was writing it I didn't like how short the battle was. War was Takumi's first Agumon and he ended up forging a bond with out little Dino, WarGreymon is his go to when he needs someone powerful. Shine is his other Agumon and as the name implies he Digivolves into ShineGreymon. Not very creative but hey, it works and it makes it easy to differentiate between the two of them. Until next week guys!


	4. Frozen Fields

Boltmon charged at War, his ax striking the metal of the WarGreymon’s gauntlets. “You think you’re better than me, defending that human?” the Data type growled, pushing against War. The screech of metal scraping metal echoed in the room and Takumi stood to the side, at a loss of what to do. He couldn’t fight like his Digimon could but he could at least cause enough of a distraction to give War an opening.

The two Mega leveled Digimon pushed away from each other, dust kicking up around them. “Tomahawk Crunch!” The ax hit the wall where War had been standing, the rock cracking from the force of the blow.

“GreyFire!” War flung flames from his claws and Boltmon brought his arms up to protect his face from the flames. He snarled when War tackled him, the two of them crashing into the crates that lined the walls and Takumi covered his face as wood flew through the room, splinters catching in his clothes.

“Get off of me!” Boltmon roared, planting a boot on WarGreymon’s chest and pushing him off. War hit the ground and the Data type was over him in seconds, fists striking War repeatedly on the face. The Vaccine type let out a growl, fighting to get the other Digimon off of him but his arms were pinned under Boltmon’s weight.

“War shut your eyes!” Takumi yelled and the Greymon quickly obeyed. Boltmon looked over at where the boy had yelled from but found something round in front of his face before it hit him. Chili powder exploded out, getting in his nose and eyes, making him pulling back and yell in pain.

War took the chance and kicked his feet out from under him and pushed himself away from the flailing Digimon.

“You little brat,” Boltmon snarled, rolling over and pushing himself to his feet, glaring over at the boy. War kicked him in the face, getting him away from his tamer and flinging more fire at him. “Get out of my way!”

Boltmon was up, punching War in the chest to get him away and moved to grab his Tomahawk. “Tomahawk Crunch!” The weapon struck war in the chest, denting his armor and throwing him back. “Now for you,” he growled, turning to the Tamer, his ax returning to his hand. “Tomahawk Knuckle!” Takumi threw himself to the side, the sound of the ax cutting through the air reaching his ears before it cut into the wall where he had been standing.

Takumi pushed himself to his feet and moved back, needing to put as much distance between him and the attacking Digimon. War was back up, stopping the blade as it arched towards the boy. “Get out of my way!” Boltmon snarled, brining the ax around again and hitting War’s gauntlets, the blade bouncing back.

“I’m not going to let you hurt him,” the Greymon growled back and he force that the other Digimon used to push him back caught him by surprise, throwing him off balance.

“Then I guess I’ll have to destroy you first!” A hand grabbed War around the neck and lifted him before slamming him into the ground, the floor cracking from the force. War brought up the claws of his gauntlets, piercing through Boltmon’s arm. Blood streamed down the green Digimon’s arm and he tensed up but he didn’t let go and instead tightened his grip on War. He lifted the Vaccine type again before slamming him down again and again, the ground beneath them crumbling with each slam. Takumi picked up the sword he had used against Hyogamon and ran at where the two Digimon were. He wasn’t going to lose War, not now, not ever.

He drove the blade into Boltmon’s leg, making the Digimon roar in pain before he backhanded the boy away from himself. He dropped War, yanking the blade out of his leg and pulling his arm so that War’s claws pulled out.

“You little rat, thinking you can stand up to me,” the Digimon growled, picking Takumi up by the neck. “I’ll crush your skull,” he snarled, tightening his grip on the Tamer’s neck, the boy reaching up to try and claw his hand away.

“Put him down!” War roared, his claws cutting through Boltmon’s back and Takumi hit the ground, coughing as he tried to catch his breath.

“Stay down!” the Data Digimon yelled, kicking the boy away before he tried to get the Vaccine type’s claws out of his back. War didn’t pull out though, forcing more of his claws forward, a determined growl sounding from him. “You can’t stop me,” Boltmon choked out.

“We can and we have,” War stated before he spread his arms out, his claws shredding through the Digimon, reverting him to nothing but data before it disappeared. War panted, his helmet cracked from repeatedly being hit and red dripping from his arms.

“War!” Takumi cried out as the Digimon revered back to an Agumon and he ran forward, catching him before he hit the ground. “I gotcha buddy,” he said, hugging the Digimon.

“You alright Takumi?”

“I should be asking you that. You’re the one that got beat up more than me,” the boy sad with a low laugh as he carried the orange dinosaur out of the room.

“I’ll be alright. He had you by the throat though, and he kicked you,” War huffed as they sat against the wall in the hall.

“You had your head slammed into the ground and an ax thrown at your chest. I’ll be fine, I’m just a little bruised is all.”

“Little bruised, you’re going to be a bruise in a few hours,” the Agumon grumbled, leaning against his Tamer and closing his eyes. “We can start moving again in a bit, I just wanna rest for a bit.”

“You wanna rest in the device? I can call one of the others out so you can sleep.”

“No, I can keep going, just need to stop for a bit,” the Digimon replied. Takumi laughed at War’s stubbornness, patting the dinosaur’s nose. War was sleeping within minutes and he called him back into the device before he called out ToyAgumon.

“You okay Takumi? We saw Boltmon grab you by the throat!”

“I’m alright, just worn out. Let’s finish poking around here so we can head back to Frigimon and Monzaemon.”

The two of them moved from room to room, finding everything the gang had managed to steal from the shops over the mountain.

“Geez, there’s a lot of stuff here,” ToyAgumon said, looking into another box. “Hard to believe they managed to get away with it for so long.”

“The other Digimon were scared. When you’ve got that many Digimon threatening you and two are Champions with one Ultimate.” Takumi shuddered, opening up one of the crates to check what was inside. He grinned when he found a jacket, pulling it out and trying it on. IT was way warmer than the vest he was wearing and it would keep him far warmer as they headed deeper into the area. He didn’t want to just take it though, someone had made it and he would essentially be stealing it if he did. He dug into one of the bags on his belt, pulling out a few gems and putting them in a small bag. Hopefully it would be enough to pay for it, he still wasn’t sure how cost worked in the Digital World.

“Hey Takumi, what about these?” ToyAgumon asked, pulling out pieces of cloth from a crate. “Looks like there’s a bunch of scarves in here.” The Tamer walked over and pulled a few out, running his fingers over the material. They felt thicker and warmer than the ones some of his Digimon were wearing.

“Think we should grab some for you guys? Wouldn’t want you freezing while we’re traveling.”

“Yeah! I want a green one!” Takumi sifted through the crate until he found the green one ToyAgumon wanted. He kneeled down, wrapping it around the Agumon’s neck and adjusted it so that it was secured. “Now we have to get some for everyone else.”

Exploring the rest of the base didn’t take much longer and by the end of it he was exhausted. “I think we should head back. I feel like I’m going to drop,” he said and ToyAgumon dragged him towards the exit.

“You wanna call someone out or should I Digivolve? I can carry you back as Greymon.”

“I think Gabu’s got enough energy to get us back,” Takumi said as he reached up, calling out the Gabumon. “Think you’ve got it in you to Digivolve?”

“I didn’t fight that much,” Gabu said with a smirk before he became Belphamon. The flight was shrot but Takumi was already starting to nod off by the time they reached the shop.   
He called out the rest of his team, Gabu immediately moving so he was walking alongside Hackmon.

“C’mon War, there’s a bed inside,” Takumi said, picking up the exhausted Agumon and carrying him inside.

“You’re back,” Monzaemon said, putting the broom aside when he saw the group walk in.

“Yeah, a few of us are a bit beat up though,” his Gabumon, Steel, said as he looked up at War and Takumi.

“Go ahead and get some sleep, you look like you need it,” Frigimon said, looking at the group.

“We can help clean up,” ToyAgumon said, raising a claw and the two shop keepers looked to him and the Betamon who was nodding in agreement. Another Agumon with a blue scarf looked uncertain before he gave a nod too.

“You sure you don’t want to sleep?” Frigimon asked and they nodded again.

“We didn’t fight like the others did and Steel’s gonna be worrying over his partner,” Shine explained, the Agumon tugging a bit at his blue scarf.

“We’d appreciate the help,” Monzaemon huffed before he nudged the boy towards the room. “The rest of you should sleep.” Takumi didn’t put up much of a fight and headed for the room, putting War down on the bed before he dropped down next to him. He could feel the other Digimon climbing onto the bed, Hackmon curling up against his unoccupied side and Gabu settling in next to him.

Steel moved to lay down next to War, making sure his partner was comfortable before he settled down himself. Their little group ended up sleeping until the next afternoon, Shine, ToyAgumon, and Betamon all piled up in bed with them.

“Sore,” Takumi groaned as he started to wake up, his neck and chest aching.

“Same,” War grumbled as he sat up, stretching his arms out and wincing. “And hungry.”

“You feeling okay Hackmon?” the Tamer asked, rubbing between the Digimon’s ears.

“Yeah, just a bit achy is all but I’ll be fine,” he grinned, pleased that everyone was alright. “I agree with War though, I’m hungry.”

“Let’s go and see if Frigimon has anything,” ToyAgumon said as he jumped down from the bed and ran out, everyone following after him at a slower pace as they all woke up.

“Glad to see you’re all up,” Frigimon said, leading them through another door. Food was already laid out and the Digimon immediately moved to sit before they started stuffing themselves. “Don’t worry about payment for this. You saved both Monzaemon and me from that gang.”

“You sure? I can pay you for it. I don’t mind,” Takumi said, looking up at her with a smile.

“I don’t mind. After all they did help clean up the shop as well,” she told him, nodding to Shine, ToyAgumon, and Betamon.

“If you’re sure. Thanks for this and for letting us stay here in the first place.” She pushed him forward and he sat next to War, grinning at the Agumon before he grabbed a plate.

~

“So how are we going to get everything the gang stole back to the owners?” Shine asked. They had all gone back to the room, everyone scattered around the room while they talked about what to do next.

“I’m not sure. We don’t know the area well enough to do it ourselves,” Takumi said, leaning back against the wall. “We’d have to see if we could get in touch with the Knights somehow. They’d know the area better than us.”

“Think we could send a message to them? We could send it to the village and have them deliver it,” Hackmon suggested.

“It would be our best bet. Frigimon and Monzaemon would be able to show them where the base is if we did,” Steel added, fumbling a bit with the bandages Frigimon had given him. War looked more like a mummy than an Agumon now but he was than happy to give his partner some peace of mind.

“Who would deliver the letter though? I don’t think they have a mail service,” Takumi sighed, pulling his goggles off and running a hand through his hair.

“They might. I mean, how else would they stay in touch?” Hackmon asked, rolling a ball back and forth in front of him.

“Doesn’t hurt to ask,” War said, letting Steel wrap up one of his arms before the Gabumon moved on to Takumi.

“How come ToyAgumon’s got a scarf all of a sudden?” Betamon asked, hopping onto the Tamer’s lap and Toyagumon jumped up from where he was sitting and grabbed the bag Takumi had stored the rest in.

“We picked one up for everyone! And Takumi left gems behind as payment!”

“Are you going to keep our old ones?” Shine asked, looking down at his blue scarf. He liked his scarf, it was something that Takumi and Kyoko had come up with when he started traveling with double Digimon.

“I’m going to store them away. These ones are warmer than those ones and I don’t you guys freezing while we’re traveling,” he told Shine, motioning the Agumon over and gently removing the thinner scarf before wrapping him in the new one.

“So where are we going from here?” Gabu asked, swiping the ball from Hackmon.

“We move further on into the snow fields. It was what we were originally going to do,” Takumi replied, wrapping a red scarf around War and Steel’s neck. “And we should be warm enough now to keep going.”

“Maybe after you guys have healed a bit,” Steel said, wrapping his Tamer’s neck while he wrapped a violet scarf around Gabu’s neck.

“Only if you keep one of us with you!” Hackmon stated, jumping after Gabu to get his ball back.

“Alright, I’ll keep one of you with me,” he told them, watching as Hackmon and Gabu rolled around on the ground. “We’ll leave in the morning to make sure you guys get some sleep.”

~~

No one wanted to move in the morning and Takumi huffed a sigh, leaving Shine and War out, the both of them yawning as they headed for the front of the store.

“You’re leaving,” Monzaemon said when he met them at the front and Takumi nodded, both Agumon blinking up at him sleepily. “Come with me.” The three of them looked at one another before following the bear Digimon through a door that was in the corner of the store. Monzaemon’s shop took up the whole room, drying racks lined one side and shelves that held leather, metal ingots, gems, and fur on the other. His workbench was against a window, scraps and partially finished projects pushed to the side to make room for three bundles. “These are for those two.”

“What are they?” War asked, reaching for the red one that Monzaemon was handing him and Takumi sat on the ground, unwrapping them. He had war hold out one of his arms, fitting the fur lined leather onto his arm, red leather straps buckling into place. “These are great!” the Agumon exclaimed, letting Takumi fit the other one on. The red leather made up most of it and it was soft but didn’t feel like it would tear easily. Shine was excited to get his on, the blue a bit lighter than his scarf.

“How do they feel?” Monzaemon asked, watching as the Tamer fastened the blue scarfed Agumon’s on.

“They’re really comfortable,” Shine said, the straps that looped between his claws flexible and soft so it wouldn’t chafe.

“These are for you,” the yellow bear aid, handing a bundle to Takumi while the Agumon flexed their claws. “You seem to like throwing yourself into danger, hopefully they’ll offer you some protection.” The boy unwrapped them, finding a pair of arm guards. “They’re made from the same metals that WarGreymon’s are.”

“These can’t have been cheap to make,” he said, looking up at the Ultimate leveled Digimon before he ran his fingers over the metal of the guards.

“You saved us even after how I treated you when I first met you. This is my thanks to you,” Monzaemon told him, watching as the boy slipped them on. He fastened the straps that held them in place on his arms and slopped his thumb through the loop that kept the piece against the back of his hand. “Think they’ll do?”

“Yeah, they’re great Monzaemon,” he said as he gave the Digimon a smile, flexing his fingers.

“I would have given you a weapon too but I’m not much of a weapons smith. I deal more in armor.”

“This is good enough, at least I have some armor on me now,” Takumi said looking over at Shine and War, both Agumon giving a nod. 

“Thanks Monzaemon,” War said as he grinned up at the Ultimate, flexing his claws, pleased with how the leather moved with his movements.

“You three be careful out there, the rest of your friends too. Come back and visit when you can, I’m sure Frigimon would be happy to see all of you again.”

~

 

“You know, it might not be too late to turn back and spend another night,” War said as they walked through the snow. They had left four hours before and it looked like a blizzard was going to start up soon, the clouds darkening above them.

“We’re too far from the shop now. The storm would hit us before we got back,” Shine replied as he looked over at War, giving a sigh and sneezing when he took in too much cold air.

“I don’t think we’re going to find much cover from the blizzard out here is the problem,” Takumi said, pulling up his goggles and looking down at the two of them. “You two can hide out in the device if you want to,” he told them with a smile.

“No way, we’re not leaving you out here on your own,” War said as he looked up at him, Shine nodding in agreement.

“Alright just don’t go turning into Digi-cicles on me,” the Tamer laughed as they trudged through the snow before something creaked under their feet. The ground gave way beneath them before they could move too far, the hole turning into a sort of tunnel and dumping them into a cave that was connected by several other tunnels.

“Ow,” Shine groaned as he sat up, rubbing his snout as he looked around. “You okay War?” he asked, looking to the other Agumon who was groaning from where he was lying on the ground next to their Tamer.

“That hurt,” War whined as he sat up and rubbed at his snout, looking up and glaring at the hole. “Who puts a hole in the middle of nowhere like that?”

“W-who’s there?” Takumi looked up at the voice and towards one of the only boulders in the cave, spotting to small in-training Digimon hiding behind it. “Stay back, we can Digivolve!” it squeaked as Shine walked over and peeked behind the rock.

“Y-yeah, we can kick your butts,” another one said, the two of them backing up so that they were pressed back against the wall.

“It’s a Bukamon and Tsunomon,” Shine said as he looked over his shoulder and Takumi hopped to his feet, walking over and looking at the two of them. “We won’t hurt you guys, we just kind of ended up down here.”

“Yeah, we were just walkin’ and mindin’ our own business then air and ground,” War huffed, standing next to the other Agumon.

“What’s a human doing here?” Bukamon demanded, looking at the Tamer with mistrust and the two reptiles grinned at her.

“His name’s Takumi and he’s our friend,” Shine told them with a smile. “We’re not here to hurt you guys, honest.” Both of them looked uncertain when a growl sounded from down the hall, making the two of the in-trainings panic. Takumi called back both Shine and War before he grabbed the two smaller Digimon and hid behind the rock with them, keeping them close to his chest. The two fought against him until a snarl filled the cavern, the two shaking and clinging to him. Something was sniffing around the cavern and he peeked around the side of the boulder before he quickly pressed himself back against the rock, holding his breath when it came closer to their hiding spot.

There was a snort before there was silent in the cavern, the Digimon moving out of the room and leaving them on their own. “What was that?” he asked, looking down at the Tsunomon and Bukamon.

“That was Drimogemon but there’s something wrong with him,” Tsunomon replied as it hopped on his shoulder and peeked over the side, really making sure it was gone before letting out a relieved sigh. “Luckily we all smell more like ice and snow so it didn’t catch our scents.”

“That was mildly horrifying,” Takumi said as he put the two of them down and got to his feet, looking towards the hall that the Drimogemon had walked through. “Looks like we might be able to get out that way if there are different connecting tunnels.”

“Hey, do you think we could go with you?” Bukamon asked, looking up at the human. “I mean, that Champion might come back around and we can’t exactly make it out on our own with him wandering around.”

“Sure, I don’t mind,” Takumi said as he gave them a grin. He tilted his head and reached up, tapping at his goggles until Steel appeared in front of him and Gabu right next to him. 

“You have more than just the Agumon?” Tsunomon asked, looking up at the two Gabumon who waved at the two In-Trainings.

“Yeah, this is Gabu and this is Steel,” he told them, motioning to each of his friends.

“We should go before that other Digimon comes back,” Gabu said as he picked up the Bukamon, Steel taking the Tsunomon. Takumi nodded, leading the way out and he stayed in front while they made their way out.

“Looks like there’s a blizzard going on,” Gabu said with a frown as the wind and snow swirled around outside the exit they had found.

“Our village isn’t far,” Bukamon told them, jumping out of Gabu’s arms and leading the way. “C’mon, I’m sure the others are out looking for us.” The village wasn’t as close as they had thought it was and Takumi ended up picking up the Bukamon the rest of the way back. “There!”

A snarl greeted them and their little group stopped, Gabu taking a defensive position in front of them when the Tsunomon jumped down from Steel’s arms and hopped towards the Weregarurumon.

“They aren’t bad Garu,” the in-training said, bouncing in front of the Ultimate level until Were-Digimon caught the smaller Digimon.

“How can you be sure?” he demanded, looking at the two Gabumon and human, unwilling to back down.

“They helped us get out of the Drimogemon’s lair,” Bukamon spoke up, hopping out of Takumi’s arms and towards Garu. “C’mon big brother, they aren’t going to hurt us.”

“Fine but if you try anything, I’ll chase you out into the ice fields myself,” Garu huffed, motioning for the group to follow.

“You sure about this Takumi?” Steel asked, watching as the WereGarurumon lead them towards one of the bigger huts in the village.

“Its freezing and we’re all worn out. Its better than sleeping in a cave or in the snow,” he shrugged, following the Ultimate.  
Garu sat near the fire, both his siblings sitting near him and eating a bowl of fruit. “What are the three of you doing out here in the first place? Most Digimon avoid the area after everything that’s been happening around here.”

“We’re new to the area,” Gabu said, sitting to his Tamer’s right while Steel took the left. “We fell into one of the holes that Drimogemon left as a trap and found those two in the cavern that it connected to.”

“That Drimogemon used to be a friend of mine but when he left for a supply run a month ago he came back in a rage. We haven’t been able to get to the trade post for supplies since then and with MegaSeadramon rampaging in the ocean we’re stuck,” Garu sighed, looking to them. “Neither of them were hostile towards us before but some things changed.”

“You think they ran into someone or something?” Takumi asked, sitting cross legged on the ground on the other side of the fire. “Its weird for them to just start attacking all of a sudden.”

“We’ve tried talkin’ to them but they don’t seem interested in talking things out,” Bukamon said, looking up from the bowl. “We went to go and see if we could talk some sense into him but we ended up like this. Normally I’m an Ikkakumon and Tsunomon is a Garurumon.”

“We can tell you more later. For now you should eat and then head to bed. The storm will be raging for a few hours but don’t go trying to start anything either,” Garu huffed, pushing a bowl of fruit towards them before he got to his feet and headed back out.

“He’s a softy but he acts all tuff cuz he’s leader of the village,” Bukamon grinned, hopping onto Takumi’s lap and munching on a piece of fruit.

“What do you think of everything that’s going on?” Steel asked, looking to the smaller Digimon.

“I dunno what to think. Megaseadramon and Drimogemon were brother’s friends but now they’re attacking us. Doesn’t make any sense to any of us since they were so close to the village.”

Takumi looked out the window, frowning a bit while the Digimon ate, his fingers tapping against the ground. Something was going on here, he hoped he was wrong but he was going to have to look into it to be sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to post this one. School got out and then I had work, turns out I write better when I'm bored out of my mind in class. Good news it I've got the next chapter all written up so all I've gotta do is type it up. I got a few things worked up for the story though and I know what direction I'm going with it now so there's that too. The antagonists of the story won't be showing up for a bit longer but I'm pretty excited to start getting to the meat of the story. Anyways, until next time.


	5. Vs. Megaseadramon

Takumi was looking up at the ceiling while Steel and Gabu slept, the two of them more than happy to curl up on either side of their Tamer to keep him warm while the storm raged on outside. He thought over what he had been told by Garu, thinking about the Drimogemon and Megaseadramon. What could be irritating the two of them so much that they would attack their own village? He sighed, shaking his head and reaching up to run a hand through his hair. The Eaters had just been taken care of and the Digital World was still trying calm down again but it looked like something was already brewing. He hoped he was wrong and that this was something that could be easily solved.

“You’re thinking too much Takumi,” Steel said with a yawn, sitting up and looking at his Tamer. “We’ll figure out what’s going on.”

“I’m just hoping we can do it without taking Drimogemon and Megaseadramon out,” the boy said as he sat up, giving Steel a smile. Gabu was still sleeping to his left and he reached out, running his fingers through his fur. “Get some sleep Steel. I’m just worrying.” His partner gave a hum before he laid back down, his back pressed against his Tamer’s side. He ended up falling asleep after an hour and woke up to Bukamon jumping on his stomach.

“Wake up Takumi, its lunch time!” the small Digimon shouted and she made a noise of surprise when she was grabbed out of the air.

“Was the jumping necessary?” he groaned, looking down at the Bukamon who just gave him a smile.

“Sure was! Steel and Gabu let you sleep in since you didn’t get too much sleep last night. The two of them were up with us and helping out around the village.”

“Sorry, I should have been up sooner,” Takumi yawned, stretching his arms over his head.

“Its okay, Steel said you were up till early this morning worrying about Megaseadramon and Drimogemon.”

“Yeah… C’mon, I’m starving,” the human eventually said, scooping up the Bukamon and heading outside. The wind from the day before had died down and the sun was peeking through the clouds. Steel and Gabu were sitting by the shore, eating some fish and fruits that they grew in the village, both of them waving over at him when they spotted him. “Where did Garu and Tsunomon head off to.”

“Tsunomon went to show Garu where they fell into the cavern,” Gabu said as he picked up another piece of fruit and bit into it.

“What else do you guys usually do?” Steel asked as Takumi started on his own piece of fruit.

“We usually fish or go swimming, there are some that farm too. We haven’t really gone swimming lately because of MegaSeadramon,” Bukamon said while picking up a piece of fish. “A few of the Gabumon have been looking for crystals too. Apparently, they’re really good for trading in other cities and towns.”

“Probably for lights or weapons if you can find someone who knows how to work with it,” Steel said as he looked at the Bukamon. “Do you know where Megaseadramon’s been hiding out when he’s not here?”

“Not really. He mostly swims along the shore when he attacks or stays further out when he’s not. We haven’t been able to get the bigger fish that stay further out because of it.”

“What’s Drimogemon been doing? Making tunnels to trap traveling Digimon?” Gabu asked, finishing off his fruit before slicing one up for the in-training Digimon that was sitting on Takumi’s lap.

“Mostly and its making it hard for us to get to other towns too.”

“Its like the two of them are trying to isolate you guys but they two of them are working independently,” Takumi said as he ran a hand through his hair.

“Maybe its just a coincidence. They used to both come here to visit the village so maybe they subconsciously come here because it was familiar,” Steel pointed out while picking up his cup of water.

“That could be it, but it doesn’t explain they why. Both of them acted out of character during the same month and are cutting the village off,” the Tamer muttered, looking out at the ocean.

“Maybe there is someone trying to mess with the Digital World,” Bukamon said, looking up at him.

The four of them where quiet as they thought about it before Takumi let out a sigh. “We don’t know enough right now. We should focus on taking care of Megaseadramon and Drimogemon.”

“Your gonna help them, right?”

“We’re going to try,” Steel said, giving Bukamon a smile and he looked up, spotting Garu and Tsunomon. “How did the exploration go?”

“Drimogemon wasn’t around when we poked around and the caverns were empty. I don’t know if I should be relieved or worried,” Garu sighed, shaking his head and sitting with them.

“I can see why. You don’t know if other Digimon have been avoiding the area or if Drimogemon has already taken care of them,” Takumi muttered, rubbing his eyes.

“I’m worried about what all of this could mean and we don’t know where Drimogemon’s gone,” Gabu said as he looked towards the field.

 

~ ~ ~ ~

 

Takumi sat on the rock outcrop that over looked the village. Something was happening and he wasn’t sure what to do about it. This could just be an isolated incident and he could just be over thinking it. He couldn’t get a hold of Alphamon or any of the other Knights to ask for advice.

He could see Megaseadramon swimming further out in the ocean, waiting. He didn’t want to just wait around for him to attack and cause more damage.

“What are you thinking about?” Bukamon asked, hopping onto the Tamer’s lap and looking out at the ocean. “You’ve been up here for the last two hours.”

“Trying to figure out what to do about Megaseadramon right now,” he said with a smile, patting the Bukamon on the head. “I wanna be able to save him but I don’t know what the problem is.”

“You’ll figure it out. Gabu and Steel say that you’re really good at figuring things out and finding solutions.”

“Did they now,” the Tamer said with a low laugh, shaking his head. Storm clouds started to gather overhead and a chill ran down the Tamer’s spine before he got to his feet. “We need to head back,” he muttered as he took off running back to the village. “Bukamon, get everyone out of the village and to a higher place.”

“What’s happening Takumi?” the little Digimon asked, looking out at the ocean and spotting what had gotten the Tamer on edge. Megaseadramon was making his way towards the shore, lightning sparking off the horn on his head.

“Gabu! Steel!” Takumi yelled and both Digimon jumped in front of him, the two tense. “Digivolve!”

“Gabumon warp digivolve to Metalgarurumon!”

“BlackGabumon warp digivolve to Belphamon!” Gabu shot out towards the water, diving down and hitting the water where Megaseadramon had been and he quickly pulled up.

“Thunder Javelin!” the serpent roared, lightning sparking from his horn that shot towards Steel. Steel shot further up into the sky while Gabu moved back in, his claws burning with Hellfire.

“Gift of Darkness!” Megaseadramon shrieked in pain as the claws ripped into his side but he twisted his body so he could sink his teeth into Gabu’s shoulder. Gabu roared, reaching up and grabbing the serpent and ripping him off and slamming him back into the water. Steel growled as he stayed near the shore, wanting to make sure that the other Digimon got away.

“Garuru Tomahawk!” Steel’s chest plate slid open and he launched the missile towards the water, icing over the surface. The wind started to pick up around them, the ice on the water being broken and carried up into the forming twister.

“Mail Storm!” Megaseadramon roared, catching Gabu in the storm as electricity started streaking up the twister.

“Gabu get out of there!” Takumi yelled, bracing himself against the wind. Gabu shot up out of the storm, growling as electricity sparked along his body. Takumi was looking to the serpent when his red eyes suddenly turned towards him. Megaseadramon dove down into the water as Gabu swooped down to grab him, snarling when his opponent slipped away from him. Steel dipped down and scanned the water, looking for a shadow of the Ultimate when the water in front of him exploded up. The serpent grabbed Steel in his mouth, keeping the thrashing wolf Digimon locked in his teeth as he disappeared under water.

“Steel!” Gabu roared and his body twisted around as his Tamer dove into the water after the Garurumon. “Takumi!”

Takumi didn’t know what he was going to do when he reached the two thrashing Digimon but he wasn’t going to just sit on the sidelines and watch as his partner was thrashed out of sight. Steel was tangled up in the Megaseadramon’s coils, struggling to break the hold the other Digimon had on him. Takumi didn’t have anything that he could throw at the larger Digimon and it wasn’t like it would have done much good since he was under water. Something landed in the water next to him and he turned to see Gabu dive down, the chains on his arms coming alive before they shot down towards the serpent, wrapping around his head and loosening his grip he had on Steel. Steel shot out of the Digimon’s grip as he turned his attention to Gabu, thrashing against the chains that continued to coil around his body. Black flames show down the metal and Steel raced up, grabbing Takumi and jumping back into the air to catch his breath.

The water bubbled under them as the flames boiled the water around the two Digmon, steam rising below them before Gabu burst from the water and moved to hover beside them. The water started to calm before long and Takumi leaned against Steel’s back to catch his breath when the water erupted again, a pained screech filling the air. A bright light shone from the injured serpent, smoke rising from his mouth as angry red eyes zeroed in on the Tamer, making a chill run down the boy’s spine.

“Megaseadramon digivolve to MetalSeadramon!” Takumi braced himself against Steel’s back to keep from getting knocked off by the shockwave the new Mega’s roared created. “River of Power!” The beam of energy hit Steel in the chest, knocking both the Tamer and Digimon from the air and into the churning waves below.

“Gift of Darkness!” Metalseadramon dove down under water to avoid getting hit by Gabu’s claws, making the Sin Digimon snarl and snap his teeth while he scanned the water. Takumi coughed as he made it back to the surface, Steel slowly pulling himself out of the water next to him and shaking the water off himself when he was in the air. Takumi jolted when he felt something swim by his leg and Metalseadramon burst out of the water by him, turning his attention to the Tamer with a low snarl, smoke rising from the cannon on his nose. Light started to shine from his nose, his head turned towards the boy and Takumi could hear both of his partners yelling at him to move. There was no way he would be able to get out of the way in time to avoid the attack and he threw his arms up in front of his head in a feeble attempt to defend himself, not noticing that the symbol on the back of his glove shone with a low green light.

“River of Power!” The beam hit a barrier in front of the Tamer but the force of the attack pushed him back underwater, his back hitting some of the rocks and knocking the air from him. Steel dove down towards the surface of the water, the blades that were connected to his shoulders glowing.

“Metal Fang!” The Garurumon’s attack only scraped the armor that covered Metalseadramon’s body and the serpents tail came around and smacked him down into the ocean floor with his tail.

“Lightning Horn!” Metalseadramon dove down, avoiding the Sin Digimon and going after the ones that were already underwater. Takumi felt something grab him by the back of his shirt and he thrashed against his captor. He found himself being tossed into the air and he narrowly avoided being caught in the serpent’s mouth, instead rolling onto his head and grabbing onto his mane to keep from hitting the water again. Metalseadramon thrashed, trying to throw the Tamer off his back. Something caught Takumi’s attention, the object was black and red, pulsing with power and it looked like it was attached to the metal of the serpent’s armor. The sudden rush of cold water startled him but he reached over, gripping the blob before he started pulling at it.

Metalseadramon thrashed underwater, pain flaring as the boy tried tearing off the parasite on its back. The serpent shot through the water, crashing through the rocks to get him off and shrieking with pain. Gabu was watching at the surface, the waves that were bring kicked up making him worry about his Tamer.

Takumi got his fingers under the blob and started to pull, his vision starting to blur as he ran out of air. He gave a hard tug, the blob coming up and he tossed it away as he lost the last of his air. He felt himself moving and he gasped as air met him, a flash of light catching his attention. Metalseadramon was gone and he grabbed the Poyomon that was floating near him, the little Digimon clearly exhausted. He tucked the baby Digimon into his jacket and sighed in relief when he felt something scoop him out of the water. Gabu let out a low rumbling growl, pulling the two against his chest and getting higher up above the water.

“You’re far too reckless,” the Belphamon growled as he looked down at him and his Tamer just gave him a grin in response when he noticed something weird in the water. There were low pulses of a red light and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end as the water exploded up, red and black twisting in the air. The shape started to change in front of them until they could start to make out what was going on. The glowing cannon on the end of the nose shone with a red light before a roar filled the air, making Takumi throw his hands over his ears while Poyomon burrowed against his chest, the sound scaring the baby Digimon.

The shadow Metalseadramon snarled before diving back under water and disappearing the in darkness of the ocean. Steel hovered near Gabu, scanning the water and for signs of the serpent shaped shadow and both he and Gabu tore to the side when the shadow lurched out of the water between them, mouth snapping in attempt to grab one of them.

“Grace Cross Freezer!” Steel roared, the hatches that covered his body springing open and pelting the Metalseadramon with missiles, icing over its body with each hit until it had frozen over, its body sticking out of the water. Its nose cannon started to glow with a blood colored light before it went off, shooting off a beam that sent the two Digimon in the air recoiling from the blast.

“River of Power!” the voice was distorted sounding almost demonic as the ice shattered around it and one of its red eyes turned towards Gabu, making eye contact with Takumi. “Poseidon’s Dive!” Water surged up in front of them, the wave carrying some of the ice with it. 

“Steel!” The Metalgarurumon looked up and caught the Poyomon on his snout before looking to Gabu and his Tamer. “Get him to shore, we’ll cover you guys! Make sure the rest of the village has made it to higher ground!”

Steel wanted to protest but the Poyomon was shaking against his armor and he growled before taking off towards the village. Gabu looked towards the wave that was coming towards them, Takumi climbing onto his shoulder and grabbing onto his fur so he wouldn’t be thrown off.

“We need to slow down the wave, create a break in it so it’ll hopefully weaken it,” he said and the Sin Digimon nodded, throwing his arms out and the claws extended out from the metal on his knuckles.

“Gift of Darkness!” he roared, the hellflames burning bright as he charged forward. He brought his claws down, slicing through the water and creating steam as water and fire clashed. Takumi covered his face and tightened his grip as Belphamon threw his arms and wings out to thin out the stream, revealing that the serpent had disappeared in the attack.

 

~

 

Steel had made it to shore and spotted Garu, the Weregarurumon standing with the rest of the village on the rise that separated them from the beach.

“You got him back,” the Ultimate said as he took the Poyomon from the Mega. “But what is it that they’re fighting now?”

“The thing that was controlling your friend. It morphed into that,” Steel stated, looking over his shoulder. They had managed to weaken the wave but it was still coming from them and if they didn’t do anything then the water would sweep over them, most likely carrying a few of them out to the water where the two Mega Digimon were battling. “Get back,” he growled as he took position at the edge of the shelf that sloped down to the beach, his eyes shining red.

“Giga Destruction!” he howled, the hatches on his back springing open and letting loose a barrage of missiles at the wave. Each missile hit, frosting over the water until nothing but slush was left, slowing down the water and the wave hit the shelf they were standing on but didn’t spill over.

 

~

 

The Metalseadramon launched out of the water, grabbing Gabu by the leg and pulled, dragging the winged Digimon down and throwing Takumi from his perch and into the water. It was colder than it had been before and he felt the air leave him, the cold like a punch to the gut.

“Gabu!” he called once he made it back to the surface, teeth chattering as he looked for his partner. “Gabu!” Something was thrashing under water and he took a few deep breaths before he dove down. The Sin Digimon was tangled up with the shadow serpent, his coils tightening up around him and squeezing the air from his lungs.

Fear filled the Tamer as he watched his partner struggle, his attacks growing weaker and he dove down. He didn’t know what he would do, he didn’t know if he could do anything but he wasn’t going to let his partner drown. Metalseadramon turned his attention towards the Tamer as he dove down, roaring at the boy as he drew his fist back.

“Hot Squeeze!” Its coils tightened up and Takumi watched as the last of Gabu’s air left him in a puff of bubbles, the Mega going lax before there was a flash and all that was left was the BlackGabumon. He couldn’t yell, he couldn’t scream for his partner but the shadow deemed the rookie uninteresting and instead headed for the Tamer.

Takumi grit his teeth and pulled back his fist as the shadow charged and the beast hesitated in its assault when it noticed a shadow looming over the boy. Its eyes shone red and something covered the boy’s fist, like a dragon’s head before it vanished and his fist connected with the serpent’s head, sending it crashing down into the ocean floor.

The Tamer paused, confusion filling him before he swam towards his partner, wrapping an arm around the BlackGabumon and pulling him back towards the surface. The both of them coughed once they made it to the surface, Gabu blinking wearily before looking to Takumi.

“I’m sorry Takumi,” he apologized and his partner shook his head with a smile, hugging his Digimon.

“You did fine Gabu. Get some rest, you’ve earned,” he said, calling back the Gabumon. He grit his teeth and looked to the shadow as it burst from the water, glaring down at him. “STEEL!” he yelled and the Mega charged into the shadow knocking it away before he moved to hover near his Tamer. He climbed on and the two took off towards the shore where he jumped down, landing on the slush that used to be the wave. “WAR!” he called out and the Agumon landed on the slush, skidding to a halt next to Steel.

“Agumon warp Digivolve to WarGreymon!” Metalseadramon charged towards the shore, nose shining with its attack.

“This ends,” the Tamer growled out, the symbol on the back of his glove shining and both Steel and War started to glow. “Digivolve!”

“WarGreymon-“

“MetalGarurumon-“

“DNA Digivolve to Omnimon!” The Knight Digimon stood ground in front of Takumi and the Garuru Head snapped to the side, the cannon emerging from the mouth.

“River of Power!”

“Garuru Cannon!” Both Tamer and Digimon yelled, their arms moving forward. The blasts connected over the water, an orb of fire bursting and creating a shockwave that forced the shadow to dive down. Both Omnimon and Takumi braced themselves against the wave, the two of them crossing their arms in front of them and throwing their arms out once it had passed. The two were scanning the water, keeping an eye out for the serpent when they saw something moved towards the shore. Metalseadramon burst from the water in front of them and the partners tensed up.

“GreySword!” they both called, their arms sweeping to the side and Omnimon revealed the sword that was hidden within the Grey arm. “Ultimate Uppercut!” Takumi mimicked his Digimon’s movements as he thrust the blade up in a sweeping motion, throwing the shadow up into the air before bringing around the Garuru Head and firing blasts repeatedly. The serpent screeched in pain, the sound sending shockwaves down and kicking up the slush, soaking the Tamer through. He stood his ground though and watched as the shadow started to fade as it fell until nothing was left.

It was quiet as the Knight Digimon moved to stand alongside his partner, the two of them looking to one another and smiling before the Digimon split into Steel and War, the Agumon and Gabumon falling. Takumi ran forwards, grunting as he caught the two of them and falling back into the slush and laughing.

“We did it,” he grinned at the two as he hugged them, both rookies throwing their arms around him and laughing too. Lightheadedness hit him hard and his vision faded before he passed out, both of his Digimon calling for him before everything was quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wanted to get this out before the end of September and I had it written but then I changed a shit ton of stuff as I was typing it so its different from the written copy. That was fun but I'm satisfied with the battles and everything in this chapter. Class is not a great place to write this semester, mostly cuz my classes require me to actually pay attention to be able to do the work. Anyways, I've started on the next one and I think you guys can guess what that ones going to focus on. ToyAgumon will get a nickname, Takumi just needs to know his final Digivolution. Some get nicknames, some don't or Im lazy, like Hackmon. Anyways, see you guys next chapter.


	6. Loss

Takumi sighed and leaned back against the wall of the cave, watching as ToyAgumon kept watch over Poyomon. War and Steel were resting, the two of them still worn out after the battle with MetalSeadramon. He was still worn out, most of his energy sapped from the battle. He didn’t know what had drained him but once the adrenaline had worn off he   
had dropped, freaking out Omnimon.

“You alright Takumi?” ToyAgumon asked, looking to him as Poyomon perched on the top of his head.

“Yeah, just a bit tired,” he told the Agumon with a smile as he climbed to his feet. “I’m going to go outside for a bit. Watch Poyomon.” ToyAgumon didn’t look happy about him leaving to go outside on his own but he did have his device with him so he could call on any of the others if he needed to.

The chill outside cleared his head a bit and he let out a long breath, watching as the air fogged up in front of him. That was twice, twice an attack meant for him didn’t connect, twice something had prevented him from getting hurt. On top of that there was the hit he had given MetalSeadramon. He had knocked the Mega into the sea floor, giving Steel enough time to get back to the surface. He didn’t get how he had done it though, he was just a kid from Japan who had managed to end up in the Digital World. He wasn’t all that special, his Digimon did all the fighting while he stood on the sidelines, well he usually stood on the sidelines anyways.

The only reason he had ended up here in the first place was because he had been selfish. He wanted to stay with his Digimon and Alphamon. He had left his friends and his mom behind in the real world. His mom hadn’t even know what had happened, she didn’t know about his job with Kyoko or the accident in Eden. He wondered if the others had told her, told her about what had happened and how they had all played a part in it.

“Sorry Mom,” he said, looking up at the stars with a small smile. “But I found where I want to be and I don’t regret it. I have my Digimon and I’m still making friends. I hope you understand.”

He let out another long breath, watching the fog drift off before fading. He wanted to talk to Alphamon, but she was busy getting the Digital World back in order. He raised a hand in front of his face, looking at the symbol that was etched in green on the back of the glove. He wondered what Alphamon had seen in him when she had first picked him up. He had been nothing but a massive glitch that had ended up back in the human world after the Eater had grabbed him.

He wasn’t surprised that he had freaked people out with his sudden appearance in the road. He had honestly thought he was going to die when the Eater had grabbed him but Nokia and Arata had managed to get away and that’s what he’d been focusing on.

“You alright Takumi?” ToyAgumon asked, appearing at his Tamer’s left side.

“I’m fine, just thinking. What are you doing out here though? Its warmer in the caves than in the snow.”

“I could ask you the same thing. You’ve been out here for almost an hour now.”

“I was thinking about hom and what lead me here,” he told the Digimon with a smile.

“Do you regret staying with us?” the Agumon asked, kicking the snow a bit and keeping his eyes on the ground.

 

“Couse not,” Takumi grinned as he leaned over and pulled ToyAgumon into a hug. “ I was just thinking about my mom and friends.”

“Tell me a bit about your world. I didn’t hatch until near the end so I didn’t get much of a chance to see it before we came to the Digital World.”

“Sure,” the Tamer hummed, moving so ToyAgumon sat on his lap while he told the Digimon about him, about his mom, and about his friends that he had worked with to solve the Eater Crisis. The Agumon listened attentively, asking questions about everything he didn’t understand.

It was nice talking about home, it helped ease some of the homesickness and ToyAgumon was a great listener. The Agumon fell asleep near the end and he smiled a bit, carefully getting to his feet so he could carry the Digimon back inside. The caves that they were using were carved into the cliffs near where they Gabumon had been staying before. The beach was still slushed over even after four days.

Garu had been keeping an eye out for Drimogemon since the defeat of MegaSeadramon and the thing that had been controlling him. So far the frozen fields had been empty, nothing disturbing the hills of snow. Maybe they had been wrong and Drimogemon had just been protecting his territory.

He really hoped that was the case and that the Champion would mellow out. He put ToyAgumon to bed in the nest they had been given, making sure he was comfortable before he stepped back out.

Garu was standing at the top of the cliffs, his arms folded over his chest. He looked to the boy as he pulled himself over the edge, giving him a huff.

“You should be resting, not climbing cliffs,” the Ultimate stated as the boy sat on a rock near him.

“I slept for two days. I’ve got too much energy to just sit around now,” Takumi laughed, giving him a grin.

“Then how about a spar?” the WereGarurumon suggested with his own grin.

“I mean, I wouldn’t be much of a challenge. Leomon was still working with me when we left,” he told the Digimon with a shrug but he slid off the rock anyways.

“Then we can pick up where he left off,” Garu said, scooping him up and jumping to the ground. “Now, show me what you know.”

Takumi showed him what Leomon had taught him, Garu helping him to correct his form. “Your smaller than both Leomon and me, use that. Larger Digimon can be tripped up if you can learn to use your size against them.” He took off the spiked knuckles on his fist and exchanged blows with the boy, wanting to test his defense. He was good at ducking under blows and striking at the holes he left open for him to hit. The longer they practiced the more confident the boy got, grinning as he ducked under lunges, side stepping blows, and striking out. He was still a bit sloppy but if he kept practicing he’d be able to hold his own against other Digimon.

Garu could see something as he taught Takumi, they were subtle but he was watching the kid as he practiced. Blue eyes flashed red from time to time, some of his hits having more power behind them than they should have for a kid his size.

“I think that’s enough for today,” the Ultimate said with a smirk, watching as the Tamer dropped onto the snow, panting with exhaustion but smiling.

“Thanks Garu. I didn’t get a chance to train much before we left,” he told him, looking up at the sky with a low hum.

“Your not bad, your style is a bit sloppy but once you get the hang of it and build your own style,” he trailed off, making the Tamer grin. “Get back inside and clean up. Your going to end up getting frostbite if you lie around like that covered in sweat.”

Takumi got back to his feet, shaking off the snow before he headed back inside. He wanted to keep training, to push himself but Garu was right to stop him now before he ended up hurting himself. ToyAgumon was still asleep in the nest of furs when he got back. When they got back to the village he was going to train more with the close combat Digimon like Leomon. He was going to help defend his Digimon when they needed it, he wouldn’t let them get caught up like Steel had been with MetalSeadramon.

“How come your clothes are all wet Takumi?” the Agumon asked with a yawn, rubbing his eyes as he sat up.

“Training with Garu,” he told him, dropping down on the floor and looking up at the ceiling. “We were both up and he offered to spar with me. Ended up turning into a training session which is great since I needed the help.”

“You look like you got dunked in the ocean. How many times did he throw you in the snow?”

“I lost count,” Takumi grinned, scooting closer to the flames so he would dry out.

~~

The day passed slowly, the Digimon of the village catching fish and picking whatever fruit they could find in the areas nearby. Going out into the fields was still dangerous with Drimogemon lurking around. Looking for the Champion wasn’t a great idea with how big the field was and with the holes that littered around leading to different cavers, they would end up getting lost before they actually found the Champion.

“Do you think he’ll come after us?” ToyAgumon asked, sitting on the rock next to the Tamer.

“I hope so. I don’t want to move on with him still being controlled. He’s more powerful and if he Digivolves he’ll be to much for them to handle.”

“You can’t stick around forever though,” Garu stated as he walked over, standing in front of the Tamer with his arms folded over his chest.

“I know but this is one of the reasons I went off on my own instead of sticking around with the Knights. I want to help, I want to solve this,” the Tamer said as he looked up at him, folding his arms over his chest to mimic the Ultimate as best he could. Garu rolled his eyes and grabbed the Tamer by the back of his jacket, putting him down on his feet.

“Then we have time for another lesson,” he huffed, letting him do some warm up before they started.

ToyAgumon kept up his watch, tilting his head when he noticed something moving in the snow two hours after the two had started their training. The Toy Digimon hopped up, watching as the mound moved again and he hopped down, running to the Tamer.

“Takumi!” the Rookie yelled, drawing the attention of his partner and the WereGarurumon. The snow erupted near the two of them and something lashed out, striking the Ultimate in the chest and throwing him back. “Iron Drill Spin!” the Champion roared, lunging at the boy. Takumi scrambled out of the way before the attack could hit him, the ground erupting behind him, gouging the ground where he had been standing.

“Baldy Blow!” the Ultimate snarled, his fist connecting with the Champion and causing him to stumble back with a growl of pain.

“Toy Flame!” ToyAgumon yelled, the flame hitting the Drimogemon in the eye. More snow was thrown around, covering the three of them and blocking their field of vision.

“Screw Claw!” Drill tipped claws knocked Garu into the cliff wall, knocking loose some of the rocks that were hanging overhead.

“Garu!” Takumi yelled as he ran towards him but a claw swatted him into ToyAgumon, knocking the both of them back.

“Crusher Bone!” Garu was hit back against, the Drimogemon focusing on him, determining that he was the biggest threat out of the three of them.

“Fancy Star!” ToyAgumon yelled, stars hitting the Champion in the back and drawing his attention away. Snow was tossed up again, blinding them and the drill tossed the Agumon away before a claw came down and pinned the boy down, crushing him in the snow.

“Foxfire!” Blue flames washed over his captor, making him roar in pain but he refused to move, keeping the boy pinned and increasing the weight on him, burying him further down. “Get off of him!” Garu roared, his leg shining with an attack. “Moonsault Attack!”

“Toy Flame!” Drimogemon snarled as the attacks hit him, flinching at the blows but refusing to move from where he was. Takumi could see the red blow on the Drimogemon’s chest but he couldn’t move and it was getting harder to breath.

“ToyAgumon!” he yelled, clawing at the Digimon’s leg in a vain attempt to get it to back off. If the Rookie could at least Digivolve then maybe he could knock him off of him so he could breath.

“Takumi!” The rookie could feel a flow of power coursing through him and he yelled out as he body started to shine. “ToyAgumon Digivolve to FlareLizamon!” Flames roared along the Champion’s body, the snow melting around him and he snarled at the Drimogemon. He rushed at the Drill Digimon, grabbing onto him and lifting him off his partner and tossing him away. “You okay Takumi?”

“Fine now that I can breath again. Nice Digivolution,” the Tamer coughed, giving his Digimon a smile.

“Thanks, picked it out myself,” the Flame Digimon replied, using his none flame covered claws to pick him up and put him back on his feet.

“Wolf Claw!” WereGarurumon roared, hitting Drimogemon in the face before FlareLizamon charged in.

“Thrust Rush!” The Fire Digimon rolled into a ball, the flames on his body flaring up as he sped towards the Champion, knocking him back. The Drill Digimon roared in pain, falling back in a heap before he struggled back to his feet, a snarl sounding from him before he gave a roar.

Light eveloped his back and Takumi yelled out, a metal claw coming around and hitting FlareLizamon into Garu.

“Drimogemon Digivolve to MetalGreymon!” The metal dragon snarled, his metal arm retracting before he aimed and fired towards the boy. Takumi threw his arms up in defense but the metal claw struck the ground next to him, knocking him off his feet.

“Giga Destroyer!” The hatches on the Ultimate’s chest sprang open, missiles launching and hitting FlareLizamon in the chest, throwing him back into the cliff, burying him under a mountain of snow. “Trident Arm!” Rocks rained down on top of the fire Digimon, burying him further under.

“FlareLizamon!” Takumi ran towards where his partner was buried, trying to shove rocks off of him.

“Overflame!” MetalGreymon roared, flames shooting from his mouth towards the boy.

“Takumi!” Garu yelled, jumping onto the Greymon’s back and striking down. “Wolf Claw!” Takumi looked up as the flames shot towards him, his eyes wide when the pile of rocks erupted, FlareLizamon covering his partner, his flames out while he defended him.

“You should be careful, you’re still a soft squishy human,” the Champion huffed as he looked down at him.

“Terra Destroyer!” MetalGreymon roared, the hatches opening and firing another round of missiles, these one glowing with power.

“Fire Tower!” FlareLizamon roared, a pillar of flames shooting from his body and clashing with the missiles in mid-air, the resulting explosion throwing Garu and Takumi to the ground.

The two larger Digimon charged at each other, grappling with one another, trying to get the upper hand on the other. Garu charged in, leaping between the two of them and grasping the black parasite on MetalGreymon’s chest. The goo writhed under his claws, trying its best to keep its grip on the Greymon while the Digimon it was attached to roared in pain. The goo detached but instead of Garu throwing it, it grabbed onto him, sinking its legs into his palm.

“Garu!” The Beast Man Digimon howled in pain as it latched on to him while the MetalGreymon devolved back into a Gabumon, FlareLizamon catching him before he hit the ground.

“Garuru Kick!” the Ultimate snarled, hitting Flare over the head and knocking him to the ground. “Wolf Claw!” His claws dug into the Champion’s chest, ignoring the flames that burned at his fur and cutting through the rough scales.

“Flare!” Takumi charged, hitting the ultimate in the back and knocking him off balance. FlareLizamon shrunk down Wanyamon, the little blue cat sinking into the snow. Garu turned and snarled at the sight of the boy who stood defensively in front of his partner.

“Moonsault Assault!” he roared, the blade of energy heading for the boy. Takumi threw his arms up, the metal of the gauntlets he wore absorbing most of the blow but it pushed him back. The WereGarurumon moved in, throwing punches, forcing Takumi to dodge and moved around to keep from getting hit.

Wanyamon wasn’t moving, the Gabumon that had been Drimogemon was down, and he couldn’t reach up to call out another one of his partners without getting hit in the face by one of the Digimon’s fists. Garu lashed out, grabbing him by the throat at his moment of indecision, reaching up and ripping off his goggles with a grin. His red eyes shone with malicious intent before he crushed the device in his claws, the glass easily bending in his palm.

“No!” Takumi hit Garu in the eyes, forcing him to drop him with a howl. He grabbed the tattered remains of his googles and moved back. Panic gripping his chest. His Digimon were still inside of the device, what would happen to them now that it was shattered?

War, Steel, Hackmon, Gabu, Betamon, and Shine, his partners. He couldn’t lose them, not like this. Blue iris’ slowly shifted to red and he looked to the WereGarurumon, clenching his fists as he ran in. Garu moved to hit him but he ducked under the blow, striking him in the chest, winding the Digimon and hitting him with an uppercut to the jaw. Garu stumbled back and Takumi pulled back his fist, a violet energy surrounding his fist and running up his arm before he struck out, hitting the Ultimate’s jaw and sending him flying back.

He ran forward, pinning down Garu’s claw and grabbing the blob, digging his nails under it and slowly prying it off. Garu thrashed, trying to throw the Tamer off but he refused to move until he finally got it off. He didn’t give it a chance to change, the same violet energy from before flaring up and burning the parasite, its screeches filling the air.  
Takumi’s legs gave out under him when the energy finally faded, tears slid down his cheeks as he looked up at the sky. His googles lying in the snow, broken beyond any kind of repair he could do to them. His partners, his friends, how was he going to get them back? “Alphamon, what do I do?” he asked the air, his voice cracking. He grit his teeth, his body shaking before he finally just threw his head back and yelled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have like two more chapters already typed up and ready to go so there's that. Guys I'm lazy and school has been dumping a shit ton of work on me so that's fun. Spanish is great but all the conjugations and rules are starting to make my head hurt. Anyways, like I said, the next two chapters are ready to go, just gotta get around to posting them. Thanks for ready and taking an interest in the story guys.


	7. Reconnection

Takumi was huddled back in the cave, a fur covering his shoulders and he hid his face against Wayamon’s fur. It had taken Garu carrying him back inside to even get him back in, the Ultimate feeling guilty for what had happened. His face was still sore but the boy had managed to keep him from staying under control but he had lost the rest of his family because he’d been foolish enough to touch the parasite.

The mangled remains of Takumi’s goggles were in a bag nearby but he didn’t even want to look at them, his chest aching every time he saw them. The Gabumon that had been Drimogemon was sleeping in a cave next door and Wanyamon had woken up to his Tamer yelling at the sky. The little In-Training was the only source of comfort for him right now and he didn’t want to let the little Digimon out of his sight right now. He didn’t know what he was going to do now, he didn’t have a connection to the rest of his team, it had been severed when Garu had crushed the goggles in his claws.

“Takumi? What are we going to do now?” Wanyamon asked, looking to the boy who gave a low sigh, opening his eyes.

“I don’t know. I can’t reach Alphamon and your still tired from the fight. It’d be easier to head back to the village but it would take time to get back,” he replied. That and he really didn’t feel like moving all that much right now. He was still exhausted and whatever he had done earlier had drained him of his energy.

“You should get some sleep Takumi, you look exhausted,” Garu said as he walked in with an extra fur, making sure the boy would be comfortable while he tried to get himself back together again.

“Yeah, its probably a good idea,” the Tamer said as he laid down with Wanyamon, covering the two of them. The boy was out within minutes and Garu sighed as he watched him. Their village was safe again but he felt awful about what it had cost the boy. He didn’t know much about how his device worked but he knew that his partners that had battled before had been inside of it.

None of the Digimon in his village were good with those kinds of things and the closest town was days away. The nearest things was Monzamon’s and Frigimon’s Outpost but he didn’t think the two of them knew how to deal with the goggles either.

~

Takumi was fiddling with the piece of his goggles, two days of just staring at the scraps had pushed him to try and do something about his predicament. He let out and frustrated sigh and shoved the pieces back into the bag when he couldn’t figure out what to do about it all. The wires and circuits were ruined, he would need new pieces to even get it functioning again.

He would need to start carrying parts in case something like this happened again. The goggles were great but here in the Digital World it was dangerous for it to be his device. They were easy to grab and destroy, he would have to think of a new design if he could get Alphamon to give him a new one.

“Nothing?” Wanyamon asked as he looked up at him with a frown, hopping onto his Tamer’s lap when he gave a shake of his head. “Cheer up Takumi, I’m sure Alphamon put some kind of fail safe in it in case it ever got destroyed like that,” he told him, closing his eyes when he felt fingers run through his fur.

“I hope so. I don’t want to lose any of them,” he sighed, resting back against the wall and closing his eyes. A couple of Gabumon were running towards the entrance of the cave and he opened his eyes as the commotion they were making, tilting his head to the side a bit.

“Something’s going on,” Wanyamon said as his partner put him in the hood of his jacket before heading out. Takumi carefully made his way through the cave to get to the entrance, his eyes widening when he saw the black and gold armor.

Garu was kneeling in front of the Knight Digimon out of respect and she looked passed him towards Takumi who was running out towards her.

“Alphamon!” he called, drawing the attention of the Digimon that were gathered around. Excitement buzzed under his skin and he could see the affection in her gaze as he stopped in front of her.

“Takumi, what happened to you?” she asked, kneeling down so she could get a better look at him, turning his head with her finger so she could get a look at the bruises on his face.

“Got into a bit of a fight,” he told her with a small smile and she pulled her hand back from his face. “How did you know something was up?”

“The device I gave you has a warning system in it that King Drasil put in when we crafted the device for you. It went off then went dead seconds later. I would have come sooner but I had been on the other side of the continent at the time. What happened?”

“There were two Digimon that were being controlled by an unknown party. The only thing that we had to go on was a black goo parasite that attached itself to them and made them go berserk. The Digimon that had been affected were a MegaSeadramon and a Drimogemon, the two of them Digivolving to the next level and their power levels higher than that of their given levels,” he told her, doing his best to keep everything straight in his head. “When Garu went to remove it from the MetalGreymon it latched onto him. He attacked FlareLizamon and me, taking down the Champion before turning on me. He crushed my device and I couldn’t call on my other Digimon.”

“Your device was destroyed?” she asked and he nodded, pulling the bag out of his pocket and showing her the contents. He hated seeing it like that and he could see Garu shuffling nervously on his feet before he stepped forwards.

“Alphamon, it was my fault that it was destroyed. If I had been thinking, then I wouldn’t have been taken over and attacked him,” the Ultimate stated as he kneeled in front of the Knight.

“Its not your fault WereGarurumon. You were acting so that your village would be safe,” she sighed, looking at the bag in her successor’s hands. “We’ll be taking our leave,” she told him, picking up Takumi and settling him on her shoulder. “Do you have everything?”

“Yeah, I didn’t really bring much with me,” he told her, getting a grip so that he wouldn’t fall off. “Um, where are we going?” he asked and she looked to him with a hint of amusement.

“Back to the village so that I can take the device to King Drasil to be repaired,” she told him and he smiled at that. “Thank you for looking after him Garu.”

“We should be thanking you. If he hadn’t come along we’d still be cut off,” he told her with a grin. “You’ve chosen well Alphamon,” he added and she nodded at the Ultimate.

“I’d hope so,” she said with a low laugh before she took to the air, heading back towards the mountains he had crossed a few weeks before.

“Hey Alphamon, are they all okay? I couldn’t call them out before it all happened,” Takumi said as he kept his eyes on the ground, his grip tightening on her cape. She took a glance at him, not liking that her apprentice was so distraught about it.

“They should be fine. Once we get you a new device you should be able to call them out again,” she told him and he gave a nod, swallowing hard as he reached up to wipe his eyes. “You’ll see them again Takumi.”

“Yeah,” he replied while Wanyamon nuzzled the back of his neck with a smile. Alphamon managed to make it to the mountains by nightfall and she slowed down once the reached the other side, deciding that it would be better for them to camp for the night.

“You sure? I don’t mind if we keep going,” he told her and she looked to him before poking him in the chest, nearly sending him to the ground.

“Your exhausted and I don’t want you falling off if you manage to fall asleep while we’re in the air,” she told him and he pouted, making her chuckle at his expression. “What else happened during that fight Takumi, you wouldn’t be this worn if you had been on the sidelines.” He fidgeted a bit before he let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair.

“Garu said that he saw me with red eyes when I fought back against him,” he told her and she looked to him with an unreadable expression.

“You fought back against an Ultimate and managed to take him down?” she asked and he gave a nod.

“It was brief but when I decided I was going to do something, that I wasn’t going to lose Wanyamon too, I felt a surge of power. My hits, there was something different about them, a weird violet light was around my arm when I hit him the last time and when I burned up the parasite,” he told her, looking up at her. “What happened to me when you guys brought me back here?”

“I don’t know. We used the pieces of your Digimon’s memories but there was nothing like that it them,” she told him and he sighed, turning away to gather some wood for a fire. 

Her expression softened as she watched him, Wanyamon talking with him while they moved around. It was happening sooner than they thought it would have but it made sense with the stress he had been under while defending his partner. “Where will your path lead you, I wonder.”

~

The village had more buildings standing now than it did when he had left and he grinned when he saw Veemon running up to meet them, waving his arms and jumping at Takumi once he had been put on the ground.

“Takumi! We were so worried about you when Alphamon told us something had happened,” he told him, pulling back so he could look at the Tamer with a frown.

“I’m alright, a little banged up but I’ll be fine,” he told his Digimon with a smile, hugging him and laughing when the Veemon willingly returned the affection.

“Um, which one were you?” he asked, spotting the Wanyamon in the hood and the In-Training grinned up at him.

“I’m ToyAgumon. I Digivolved to FlareLizamon when we got into the fight and I ended up like this again,” he told the Rookie who grinned.

“That’s great. I know you’ve been wanting to Digivolve for a while now,” he told him, scooping him out of the hood and hopping down. “C’mon, lets go and see if the others have food for ya.”

“I’ll be back in a few days when your device is ready,” Alphamon said as she looked to Takumi and he nodded in response.

“This time, can they not be goggles. I mean, I like having goggles so I’ll probably find a pair somewhere but they’re kind of easy to just grab off my head,” he told her and she was silent for a moment before she let out a low laugh.

“I think that’s a sound suggestion. Do have anything in mind for a new device?” she asked and he tilted his head as he thought about it. Something that clipped to his belt would be good as long as the thing securing it was strong so that it didn’t fall off or something for his wrist since it was protected by the gauntlets that Monzaemon had made for him. “I’ll surprise you then,” Alphamon said when she heard his suggestions and he grinned up at her, giving a nod before she took off again.

He let out a low sigh, looking back at the village and heading in, nearly falling over when two blurs hit him in the chest. “Takumi, you need to stay out of trouble,” Gatomon said as she looked to him, moving to sit on his shoulder while BlackGatomon sat on his other.

“No kidding, can’t have you coming back all bruised up,” the darker of the two huffed, looking down at her claws, making him smile.

“I’ll keep that in mind the next time I get into a fight,” he told them, continuing his walk, keeping his eye out for Leomon and BanchoLeomon as he walked.

His Digimon were all helping out in some way, a few of them coming back with fish and others coming back with baskets of fruit. A lot of them abandoned their tasks once they saw him, glad that he was back again and asking what had happened while he had been gone and why he had bruises on his face.

“You look like you got in a fight with something,” Leomon said when he finally found him sitting by the lake.

“I kind of did,” he told him, dropping onto the grass next to him and running his fingers through the grass. He told Leomon what had happen and the fight he’d had against Garu, the Champion frowning as he listened.

“We can start training tomorrow and we’re not compromising on it. You’re still recovering and I’d rather not knock you down with the first hit,” Leomon smirked, making the Tamer pout at him and fold his arms over his chest. The Champion laughed, looking back at the lake while his partner got to his feet, stretching himself out before he went off to look for BanchoLeomon.

~

Nighttime was great and he loved watching his Digimon gather up for dinner, a stew that both Guilmon had made sitting in a pot in the middle of their village. He sat on the roof with Wanyamon, watching them all from his perch, glad that they were all safe.

His chest still ached, missing the Digimon that were trapped in his device and he shoved another spoonful of food in his mouth to keep himself from dwelling on it too long or else he’d get upset again. At least he would have something to do while he waited for Alphamon to get his Digivice fixed.

“Your thinking again,” Kudamon said as he draped himself over his shoulders, making a noise of appreciation when Takumi lifted his spoon towards him so he could get a bit.

“I tend to think a lot,” he told the Digimon with a bit of a smile and the little dragon eyed him, unamused. “Yeah, I was thinking about War and the others. Hopefully they can get the device done in two days. I really don’t want them to be trapped in there for longer than they have to be.”

“I’m sure they’re fine. They wouldn’t want you worrying over them too much. You’ll make yourself sick if you keep it up.”

“You sound like Alphamon. She was telling me the same thing on out way back this morning,” he laughed, giving the Digimon another bite of the stew before he ate some himself.

“She has a point and she is your mentor,” he reminded him before he dropped off his shoulder and onto his lap so he could eat from the bowl.

“Rude,” Takumi laughed but he didn’t move to stop him, letting him eat his fill and looking over at Wanyamon who was sleeping in a blanket he had brought up with him. It was nice to be back with his Digimon, he hadn’t been gone all that long, a little over a month at most but he liked being around his Digimon. He was going to have to tell Alphamon more about what had happened, maybe they could figure something out and find out what was going on that was making the other Digimon go crazy.

“What are you going to do once your device is fixed?” Kudamon asked, getting comfortable in the Tamer’s lap, his head resting on his knee.

“I want to keep going, I need to figure out what’s going on with these parasites. Are they contained to one area? Are they all over the Digital World? How many Digimon are affected by them already? Its not something I can ignore,” Takumi said with a small smile. “It’ll be dangerous. This last time proved that but I want to keep going, I need to find out what’s going on.”

“Sounds like you,” the small dragon Digimon said, closing his eye while Takumi pet the top of his head.

~

 

Takumi was standing in front of Leomon, a few bruises already covering his arms. They had been training for the passed hour, the Champion trying to get a feel for the power he had used before when fighting Garu. The problem was, he couldn’t call it up again, that violet power that had helped him wasn’t coming back.

“What triggered it the first time?” Leomon asked, looking to his partner and folding his arms over his chest. Takumi lowered his arms and through back to what he had been feeling when it had happened and he closed his eyes.

“Desperation,” he told him, opening his eyes to look at the Champion. “My goggles had shattered, Wanyamon was down, and Garu was possessed. There wasn’t much I could do as I was but I wanted to do something,” he clenched a fist as he thought back on it. He ducked under a punch that Leomon sent at him, tripping up a bit and barely dodging another hit. “Leomon!” The Digimon didn’t respond, a snarl on his lips as he lunged at him again, his fist pulled back.

“Fist of the Beast King!” he roared, the attack smacking Takumi in the chest and knocking him on his back. He rolled to the side, the blade that the Leomon carried sinking into the ground where he had been and he scrambled to his feet, his eyes wide as the Beast Man Digimon lunged at him again.

“Leomon stop!” The Tamer was starting freak out a bit, his chest aching from the attack but none of his other partners were around, the two of them heading for a river that was further off so they could concentrate. “LEOMON!” He barely managed to avoid getting hit with the blade, his shirt getting a tear in it and he grit his teeth, stopping and raising his fist against the Digimon. “I said stop!” he yelled, his fist connecting with Leomon’s stomach, that same flow of power flowing through him again. The Digimon hit the ground, the breath knocked out of him and he looked to the Tamer, grinning a bit when he saw the red eyes and the violet energy around his fist.

“That got you to react,” he Digimon smirked as he got to his feet, looking the boy over. He was still in a fighting stance, one fist pulled back before he hit the air in front of him, a wave of energy making Leomon stumble. “Fist of the Beast King!” Takumi crossed his arms in front of him, the attack hitting his gauntlets and pushing him back. He forcefully uncrossed his arms and ran at the Digimon again, the two of them throwing punches at one another until Takumi managed to get in his defense and he gathered up as much energy as he could into his fist and hit Leomon in the side, knocking him into the river.

The power gave out and he fell to the ground panting, sweat dripping down his face while he tried to catch his breath. “You alright Leomon?” he asked between breaths, pushing himself up so he could at least sit down.

“I’ll recover. Looks like calling on that state of mind drains you though,” he said, moving to sit in front of him. “You need to get control over it though so you don’t use of so much energy. Looks like we’ll be meditating for a while.” 

“That sounds like an amazing idea,” Takumi said with a low laugh as he moved so he was sitting cross legged. He ended up falling asleep half an hour in and Leomon huffed a low laugh as he got up, picking up the Tamer and carrying him back.

“I heard something going on in the forest,” Guilmon said as she looked up at Leomon, narrowing her eyes.

“It was nothing, we were training is all,” the Champion told her as he walked towards the building that Takumi tended to stay in. The Rookie let out a low grumbling growl and followed after him, keeping an eye on her partner as they walked. “Your staying with him?” Leomon asked once he set him on the bed and the purple scarfed Guilmon didn’t find it necessary to give him an answer as she curled up at the next to the Tamer. She snorted at Leomon, a bit of smoke coming out of her nose before she closed her eyes and rested her head on Takumi’s stomach, set on staying with him until he woke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finished Hackers Memory so I'll be adding elements from that to this story. Might be a while before you see those things in the story though since I'm still trying to get the main plot for this one moving. I've got a base for what I want and the things I want to happen, its just getting them all typed out that's the harder part.

**Author's Note:**

> So I wanted to write something after I finished the game a few weeks ago. I wanted to write something that had to do with if he made the decision to stay with his Digimon and in the Digital World. It seemed like it would be a fun concept to write about and so far it has been. The first two chapters are pretty short but the third one is actually turning out longer than I had intended it to so you guys can look forward to that. Some of his Digimon will have nicknames to make it easier to identify them but those will be put in a later chapter. Anyways, thanks to reading!


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